Soybean Wars

• Land reform put on hold as President Lugo’s already mixed record becomes even more muddy, particularly when it comes to honoring his pledge to give land to the landless.
• The campesino struggle for land and Lugo’s halfhearted effort to take a stand as a handful of omnipresent agroindustries make their mark on Paraguayan society and its economy.

After 35 years of Alfredo Stroessner’s brutal dictatorship (1954-1989) and six decades of wasted opportunity under the authoritarian Colorado Party rule, Fernando Lugo’s presidential victory in 2008 marked a historic breakthrough for Paraguay. While campaigning, then-Bishop Lugo characterized himself as the “bishop for the poor,” and was successful in giving hope to Paraguay’s indigenous and disadvantaged communities. However, after two years in office, comparatively little has been done to address the promised redistribution of land to landless farmers as well as the rising tensions between campesinos and large monocrop (primarily soy) producers.

There is no doubt that land reform is the single most important political issue in the country today, yet this controversial subject is far from being adequately addressed, let alone resolved. This is due to the complexity of seizing control of Paraguay’s principal source of economic activity and effectively tackling outside investments by the handful of self-serving multinational enterprises that have impinged on the country. By examining the conflict associated with the newfound bonanza that soy has created and the transnational companies behind its cultivation and export, it will become apparent that the very people who should have the final say over soy production are Paraguayan campesinos, the very ones presently getting pushed off their lands, with a virtually powerless Lugo looking on.

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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Kyle Tana