As in Honduras, US Does Not Object to Kicking Out a Pro-land Reform President in Paraguay [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

As in Honduras, US Does Not Object to Kicking Out a Pro-land Reform President in Paraguay
Submitted by BuzzFlash on Sun, 07/22/2012 - 12:18pm.

NIKOLAS KOZLOFF FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

For isolated and impoverished countries, it can sometimes prove difficult to pursue an independent foreign policy which challenges Washington's traditional sphere of influence. Take, for example, tiny Paraguay which has recently been convulsed in political instability. Four years ago, Fernando Lugo was elected president after pledging to take on political and economic elites on behalf of Paraguay's poor.

A former bishop, Lugo promised to tackle pressing social problems like land reform. His record, however, on proceeding with that agenda was considered inordinately supporters by his erstwhile supporters. But the threat of such reform was enough to spook the few families that owned most of the private land in Paraguay.

On the international front too, Lugo was making waves: though he continued to maintain friendly ties to the U.S., he also made overtures toward the populist regime of Hugo Chávez of Venezuela.

Not surprisingly, such policies did not go over well either in Washington or with the ruling elite in Paraguary (who built up their near monopoly power over the economy and land under the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner, who was the dictator of Paraguay for most of the half century - and, of course, a reliable US ally).

More:
http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/13619