The Reinvention of the Dinosaur: Between Nostalgia and Pragmatism of the Colorado Party in Paraguay

Abstract

The present paper seeks to explain, based on compared empirical evidence the characteristics, the context, the rules and the results of the Paraguayan electoral process of 2013. To process this information, the review of the electoral data was utilized, up to the last election, as well as the previous processes of 1993, 1998, 2003 and 2008. The main findings indicate that after the last election in Paraguay, four types of considerations can be made: a) the only party with a national structure and effective presence is the ANR; b) the PLRA is a party unable to grow, but maintains its captive vote; c) the UNACE and PPQ parties are in danger of extinction as they have been emptied of content due to the absence of its historical leaders; and d) that the Paraguayan left, despite their differences, has had an interesting growth in rural areas, but also between groups of urban middle classes less conservative and religious.