The Guión Rojo (Red Banner) was a Paraguayan

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

organization of the 1930-1950s, which was formed in 1942 as the paramilitary wing of the Colorado Party. It united supporters of Colorado leader Juan Natalicio González, far-right nationalists, anti-communists and adherents of Falangist and pro-fascist ideas. It played a prominent role under the dictatorial regime of the 1940s, in the civil war of 1947, the subsequent political struggle and the establishment of

Alfredo Stroessner Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda (; 3 November 1912 – 16 August 2006) was a Paraguayan politician, army general and Military dictatorship, military dictator who ruled as the 42nd president of Paraguay from 15 August 1954 until his overthrow in 19 ...

's dictatorship.

Background

Paramilitary formations have a long association with Paraguayan politics. A surge in their activity came in the 1930s. This was facilitated by the entry into politics of many veterans of the

Chaco War The Chaco War (, February Revolution of 1936, described as "a joint Marxist - fascist coup against the liberal government". By the end of the decade, in general, two opposing blocs had formed: on the right the Colorado Party, and on the left the Liberal and Revolutionary Febrerista, with the Communist Party adjoining them. The Paraguayan army and state apparatus had their own goals, putting forward ambitious authoritarian politicians from their midst. In the countryside, the conservative Colorado Party relied on 15,000-strong ''Py Nandi'' peasant militia.Phil Gunson, Andrew Thompson, Greg Chamberlain. The Dictionary of Contemporary Politics of South America / Macmillan Pub Co; 1st edition, 1989. These formations were recruited mainly from the rural poor (in the

Guaraní language Guarani (Avañe'ẽ), also called Paraguayan Guarani, is a language of South America that belongs to the Tupi–Guarani branch of the Tupian language family. It is one of the two official languages of Paraguay (along with Spanish), where i ...

, ''py nandi'' means "barefoot ones") who held strongly conservative and

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...

views. The Py Nandi militants were notable for their particular brutality in reprisals against left-wing activists. The

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, with its ideologically driven militias and foreign intervention, prompted the Paraguayan far right to strengthen the paramilitary force.

Creation and ideology

In 1938, Colorado leader Juan Natalicio González decided to reform the party's paramilitary structure. On the basis of the rural ''Py Nandi'' and the urban ''GAC''s (''Grupos de Acción Colorada'' - Colorado Action Groups), another militia was created in 1942, called Guión Rojo (meaning Red Banner, as the color red is historically associated with Paraguayan conservatism). In this new organization, González saw an instrument to further his populist socio-economic doctrine, close to

corporatism Corporatism is an ideology and political system of interest representation and policymaking whereby Corporate group (sociology), corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, come toget ...

as well as his own ambitions for the presidency. Politically, Guión Rojo differed little from Py Nandi. However, there were noticeable differences in social composition and organizational structure. Guión Rojo included not only peasants, representatives of the low and middle bourgeoisie in the cities, and right-wing intellectuals. The structure was more strict, closer to the Colorado branches, with direct subordination to party functionaries and personally to Juan Natalicio González. González, a well-known intellectual, journalist, historian and writer, was inclined towards political romanticism. González combined national populist views with the idea of a Colorado corporate fraternity. Guión Rojo militants understood his slogan "Colorado will not be poor" as a sanction for permissiveness.

"Army of Colorado"

In 1940, the military dictatorship of

Higinio Morínigo Higinio Nicolás Morínigo Martínez (11 January 1897 – 27 January 1983) was a Paraguayan military officer and politician who served as the 35th president of Paraguay from 1940 to 1948, ruling as a military dictator. Born to a mestizo famil ...

was established in Paraguay. His regime held strong nationalist and anti-communist beliefs and showed sympathy for the

Axis Powers The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...

. Therefore, the Colorado Party, led by González, supported the Morínigo regime. Since 1942, the Guión Rojo acted as a pro-government power structure. The militants of the organization carried out attacks and took part in violence against liberal and ''febrerista'' opposition figures. Opposition newspapers were shut down and their publishers exiled. At the same time, relying on the "Gionists", González strengthened his own positions, gradually intercepting the levers of real power from Morinigo. In 1947, civil war broke out in Paraguay. A coalition of liberals, ''febreristas'' and communists, with the support of much of the army, tried to overthrow Morínigo. The military superiority was on the side of the opposition. The detachments of Guión Rojo and Py Nandi became the main force of the pro-government side. They played a very important role in the war, allowing Morinigo to hold out until the mobilization of reinforcements, organized with

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

help. After the defeat of the opposition, the Guión Rojo militants carried out brutal reprisals throughout the country against the defeated rebels. In February 1948, Juan Natalicio González was elected President of Paraguay. The political landscape had changed: Higinio Morínigo tried to prevent him from taking office. In the spring and summer of 1948, Guión Rojo organized armed uprisings, which resulted in the overthrow of Morinigo and the ascent of González into power. The Guionists also participated in the suppression of the coup attempt in October 1948. However, following another coup, in January 1949, González was removed from power and emigrated from Paraguay. González's departure from politics reduced the Guión Rojo's activity. However, the structure continued to exist, consolidating Colorado's far-right forces and continuing its tradition of strong anti-communism and pro-fascist sympathies. Among the Guión Rojo's activists and ideologues were

Edgar Ynsfrán Edgar Linneo Ynsfrán Doldán (December 9, 1921 – November 2, 1991) was a Paraguayan politician who held important governmental posts during the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner. He became Minister of the Interior in Paraguay in 1956, and held ...

, who romanticized the violent methods of the militants as "a barbaric struggle for the people's truth", and Juan Manuel Frutos Fleitas, who later became the head of the Paraguayan branch of the

World League for Freedom and Democracy The World League for Freedom and Democracy (WLFD) is an international non-governmental organization of anti-communist politicians and groups. It was founded in 1954 as the Asian Peoples' Anti-Communist League (APACL) under the initiative of C ...

anti-communist organization. Eventually, the group would come to support Paraguayan General

, who was ideologically close to them and launched his own coup in 1954 to seize power for himself.

Decline

The Guión Rojo were strongly associated with Juan Natalicio González, whom Stroessner considered a dangerous competitor. Even though Natalicio did not engage in oppositional activities, the new head of state treated him with suspicion. Therefore, the authorities did not encourage the organizational activity of Guión Rojo. However, members such as Edgar Ynsfrán Juan Manuel Frutos Fleitas became high ranking government ministers and ideologues of the new dictatorship, which was to last for 35 years. After the death of Natalicio in 1966, the organization itself ceased to exist. However, the functions of Guión Rojo continued to be performed by ''Py Nandi'' and other Stronist assault brigades -

Pastor Coronel Pastor Milciades Coronel (9 August 1919 – 19 September 2000) was the chief of the Investigations Department during General Alfredo Stroessner's dictatorship of Paraguay. He is considered by human rights Human rights are universally ...

's Macheteros de Santani, Ramón Aquino's Garroteros and Eugenio Jacquet's Grupos de Acción Anticomunista. The term "Guión Rojo" became collective name for the far right wing of the Colorado Party. One of the constituent groups of the modern Colorado Party bears the name Movimiento Guión Rojo. Its leaders Miguel Angel Sithar and Nya Delo are positioned as bearers of the tradition of the "real Colorado".

References

{{Reflist Military units and formations established in 1942 1942 establishments in Paraguay Fascism in South America Anti-communist organizations Military wings of fascist parties