La independencia paraguaya y la supuesta homogeneización étnica de la joven nación

Abstract

The Paraguayan Independence differs from other Latin American processes because was not won by war, although the violent conflicts in the former viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata strongly influenced the formation of the new state, and the establishment of the Dictatorship of Dr. Francia, which was, however, approved by a popular congress. In this article, we analyse this process and then focus on the politics of Dr. Francia against his political rivals, the old commercial elite, mainly from Spain or Buenos Aires. In this context, we critically discuss an order from 1814 which prohibits any marriage between people of this group with person who are not indigenous or of African ancestry. We demonstrate that this measure did not aim at any ethnic homogenization, as often stated, but at the destruction of the social and political power of the former élite. This gave way to a state which held the monopoly of power, but at the cost of an extremely personalized political system.