ABSTRACT
Paraguay is one of the smallest South American countries, both in terms of area and population. This landlocked country covers an area of about 407 million km2
and has a population of about 5.5 million people. The Republic of Paraguay’s political history, beginning with independence from Spain in 1811, has been shaped by three postcolonial dictatorships (from 1814 to 1870), followed by a period of high political instability, which ended in 1954, when General Alfredo Stroessner assumed the presidency after a military coup. Mr. Stroessner’s authoritarian and corrupt regime lasted until 1989. In June 1992 a new democratic constitution was adopted, establishing Paraguay as a Presidential Republic, which is divided into 17 departments and 231 municipalities. Since 1989 all presidents have come from the Colorado Party, the most powerful party, which has ruled uninterruptedly since 1947. In 2003 Nicanor Duarte Frutos, leader of the reformist faction within the Colorado Party, was elected president with an ambitious program of state reform. Among the actions taken, with encouragement from international organizations (primarily the IMF), was a major tax reform approved in 2004, but with implementation partially delayed to 2006.
