Genocide of indigenous peoples in Paraguay
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

There are 17 indigenous tribes in
Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
with the majority having their territories in the Chaco region. Tribes in this region include the
Guaraní Guarani, Guaraní or Guarany may refer to Ethnography * Guaraní people, an indigenous people from South America's interior (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia) * Guaraní language, or Paraguayan Guarani, an official language of Paraguay * ...
,
Ayoreo The Ayoreo (Ayoreode, Ayoréo, Ayoréode) are an indigenous people of the Gran Chaco. They live in an area surrounded by the Paraguay, Pilcomayo, Parapetí, and Grande Rivers, spanning both Bolivia and Paraguay. There are approximately 5,600 ...
, Toba-Maskoy,
Aché The Aché ( ) are an indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous people of Paraguay. They are hunter-gatherers living in eastern Paraguay. From the earliest Jesuit accounts of the Aché in the 17th century until their peaceful outside contac ...
and Sanapan which according to the census from 2002 number an estimated 86,000 or roughly around 2 per cent of the total population. These peoples have faced persecution particularly under the dictator Alfredo Strossner that some observers called a
genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Latin ...
.


Repression under Alfredo Stroessner

Between 1956 and 1989, while under the military rule of General
Alfredo Stroessner Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda (; 3 November 1912 – 16 August 2006) was a Paraguayan army officer and politician who served as President of Paraguay from 15 August 1954 to 3 February 1989. Stroessner led a coup d'état on 4 May 1954 with the ...
, the indigenous population had more territory taken than at any other period in Paraguay's history and were subjected to systematic human rights abuses. In 1971, Mark Münzel, a German
anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...
accused Stroessner of attempted genocide against the indigenous peoples of Paraguay and Bartomeu Melià, a
Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...
anthropologist stated that the forced relocations of the indigenous peoples was
ethnocide Ethnocide is the extermination of cultures. Reviewing the legal and the academic history of the usage of the terms genocide and ethnocide, Bartolomé Clavero differentiates them by stating that "Genocide kills people while ethnocide kills social ...
. In the early 1970s the Stroessner regime was charged by international groups of being complicit in genocide. However, because of the repressive actions undertaken by the state the indigenous tribes organized themselves politically and had a major role in bringing about the end of the military dictatorship and the eventual transition to democracy. The state financed these repressive actions with U.S. aid, which totaled $146 million from 1962 to 1975 to Paraguay.


Destruction of the Ache tribe

During the 1960s and 1970s, 85 percent of the Aché tribe died, with many hacked to death with machetes to make room for the
timber industry Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production Lumber and wood products, including timber for framing, plywood, and woodworking, are create ...
, mining, farming and ranchers. One estimate posits this amounts to 900 deaths. According to Jérémie Gilbert, the situation in Paraguay has proven that it is difficult to provide the proof required to show "specific intent", in support of a claim that genocide had occurred. The Aché, whose cultural group is now seen as extinct, fell victim to the development by the state, who had promoted the exploration of Aché territory by transnational companies for natural resources. Gilbert concludes that though planned and voluntary destruction had occurred, it is argued by the state that there was no
intent to destroy ''Intent to Destroy: Death, Denial, & Depiction'' is a 2017 documentary film directed by Joe Berlinger about the Armenian genocide. Production Berlinger embedded in the filming crew of '' The Promise'' to shoot ''Intent to Destroy''. The film p ...
the Aché, as what had happened was due to development.


Assessment of persecution as a genocide

The allegation of genocide by the state was brought before the
Inter-American Human Rights Commission The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the IACHR or, in the three other official languages Spanish, French, and Portuguese CIDH, ''Comisión Interamericana de los Derechos Humanos'', ''Commission Interaméricaine des Droits de l'Homme'', ...
which has jurisdiction on allegations of genocide carried out by a state. The commission gave a provisional ruling that Paraguay had not carried out a genocide, but stated it had concerns over "possible abuses by private persons in remote areas of the territory of Paraguay". The Whitaker Report of the United Nations listed the persecution of the Aché as an example of genocide. Whether or not genocide occurred in this case is contingent on the definition of genocide being used. If we use the definition used by
Raphael Lemkin Raphael Lemkin ( pl, Rafał Lemkin; 24 June 1900 – 28 August 1959) was a Polish lawyer who is best known for coining the term ''genocide'' and initiating the Genocide Convention, an interest spurred on after learning about the Armenian genocid ...
who coined the term, then there were genocides of indigenous peoples in Paraguay. The current
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG), or the Genocide Convention, is an international treaty that criminalizes genocide and obligates state parties to pursue the enforcement of its prohibition. It was ...
definition does not include political groups in their definition of genocide. David E. Stannard, American Holocaust: The Destruction of America's Native Peoples, a lecture by David Stannard, professor and chair of the American Studies Department at the University of Hawaii. Minute 80:47


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{Paraguay topics , collapsed
Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
Indigenous peoples in Paraguay History of Paraguay Historical controversies 20th-century controversies Alfredo Stroessner Genocides in South America