Higinio Nicolás Morínigo Martínez (January 11, 1897 – January 27, 1983) was a military officer, politician and Paraguayan dictator. He participated in the
Chaco War
The Chaco War ( es, link=no, Guerra del Chaco, gn, Cháko ÑorairõParaguayan Army. After the war he was appointed Chief of the Cabinet of the Ministry of War and Navy during the presidency of Félix Paiva. He was Minister of the Interior between January and August 1939, then appointed Minister of War and Navy and promoted to
brigadier general
Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointe ...
in May 1940 during the government of
José Félix Estigarribia
José Félix Estigarribia Insaurralde (February 21, 1888 in Caraguatay – September 7, 1940 in Altos) was a Paraguayan military officer, politician and president. He was Commander in Chief of the Paraguayan Army during the Chaco War (1 ...
. When the latter died in a plane crash a few months later. Morínigo became
President of Paraguay
The president of Paraguay ( es, Presidente del Paraguay), officially known as the President of the Republic of Paraguay ( es, Presidente de la República del Paraguay), is according to the Constitution of Paraguay the head of the executive bran ...
, a position he would hold until 1948.
Early life and military career
Morínigo was born in 1897 in
Paraguarí
Paraguarí (; gn, Paraguari) is a city, '' distrito'' and capital of Paraguarí Department in Paraguay, located 66 km from the country's capital, Asunción. At the 2002 census it had a population of 22,154.Guarani descent. He was fluent in the Spanish and
Guaraní language
Guaraní (), specifically the primary variety known as Paraguayan Guarani ( "the people's language"), is a South American language that belongs to the Tupi–Guarani family of the Tupian languages. It is one of the official languages of ...
s. Little else is known of his early life.
He attended military college and entered the Paraguayan Army in 1922. He participated in the
Chaco War
The Chaco War ( es, link=no, Guerra del Chaco, gn, Cháko ÑorairõFebruary Revolution of 1936 by heading an expedition to the site of the Battle of Cerro Corá to retrieve the remains of
Francisco Solano López
Francisco Solano López Carrillo (24 July 1827 – 1 March 1870) was President of Paraguay from 1862 until his death in 1870. He was the eldest son of Juana Pabla Carrillo and of President Carlos Antonio López, Francisco's predecessor.
...
. President
José Félix Estigarribia
José Félix Estigarribia Insaurralde (February 21, 1888 in Caraguatay – September 7, 1940 in Altos) was a Paraguayan military officer, politician and president. He was Commander in Chief of the Paraguayan Army during the Chaco War (1 ...
, himself a Chaco War hero and supporter of the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
, promoted Morínigo to general and appointed him as Minister of War on May 2, 1940.
After Estigarribia's unexpected death in an airplane crash on September 7, Morínigo was chosen by the army and Liberal ministers as interim President for the two-month period leading to new Presidential elections.
Dictatorship
On September 30, 1940, after growing disagreements with the President, the Liberal ministers resigned from the government. On October 16 Morínigo announced that the Presidential elections would be postponed for two years. Soon afterward he announced a policy of "discipline, hierarchy and order" ''(disciplina, jerarquia, y orden)'' and stated that persons who spread subversive ideas would be "subject to confinement".
On November 30, Morínigo banned all political parties and assumed dictatorial powers under a state of siege. In a midday radio address announcing these measures, Morínigo declared, "The people and the Army from this moment will be under a single command." In his
self-coup
A self-coup, also called autocoup (from the es, autogolpe), is a form of coup d'état in which a nation's head, having come to power through legal means, tries to stay in power through illegal means. The leader may dissolve or render powerless ...
and subsequent rule, he was greatly assisted by the 1940 Constitution, a severely authoritarian document written by the Liberals and Estigarribia that gave the president sweeping executive powers.
To strengthen his authority, on February 4, 1941, Morínigo removed the influential Colonel Peredes from the post of
interior minister
An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
. On April 17, 1941, he suppressed a ''febrerista'' uprising by supporters of the
February Revolution
The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and some ...
.
On April 25, 1942, he banned the Liberal Party, accusing them of conspiring with the
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
ns and exiled Party's leaders. Morínigo's only remaining supporters were radicals from the Colorado Party and the Army. During his dictatorship he faced widespread resistance, including
general strike
A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coa ...
s and military revolts, but he survived by maintaining the loyalty of the Paraguayan Army, which received 45% of the country's budget.
Morínigo relied on the right-wing Colorado faction ''Guion Rojo'' (the "Red Banner"), led by Juan Natalico Gonzalez, as a paramilitary police force to intimidate ''febreristas'' and Liberals. Opposition newspapers were shut down and publishers exiled.
Morínigo finally held presidential elections on February 15, 1943; he was the sole candidate.
Pro-fascist sympathies
Just as in other South American countries, pro-
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
and pro-
fascist
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...
sympathies at this time were quite strong in the society and among military officers. After it entered
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
in 1941, the United States tried to exert some pressure on Morínigo to limit the influence of Axis supporters. He kept Paraguay neutral for most of the war. He only officially declared war against the Axis in February 1945, without sending any soldiers to fight.
A surge of German influence in the region and Argentina's pro-Axis leanings alarmed the United States, which sought to wean Paraguay away from German and Argentine influence. At the same time, the United States sought to enhance its presence in the region and pursued close cooperation with Brazil, Argentina's traditional rival. To this end, the United States provided to Paraguay sizable amounts of funds and supplies under the
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...
Agreement, provided loans for public works, and gave technical assistance in agriculture and health care. The
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other na ...
approved of closer ties between Brazil and Paraguay and especially supported Brazil's offer to finance a road project designed to reduce Paraguay's dependence on Argentina.
United States protests over German and Argentine activities in Paraguay fell on deaf ears. While the United States defined its interests in terms of resisting the fascist threat, Paraguayan officials believed their best interests lay in economic expediency and were reluctant to antagonize Germany until the outcome of the war was no longer in doubt. Many Paraguayans believed Germany was no more of a threat to Paraguay's
sovereignty
Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...
than the United States.
Much to the displeasure of the United States and Britain, Morínigo refused to act against German economic and diplomatic interests until the very end of the war. German agents had successfully converted many Paraguayans to the Axis cause. South America's first
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
branch had been founded in Paraguay in 1931. German immigrant schools, churches, hospitals, farmers' cooperatives, youth groups, and charitable societies became active Axis backers. All of those organizations prominently displayed
swastika
The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. I ...
s and portraits of
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
.
Morínigo's regime was pro-Axis. Large numbers of Paraguayan military officers and government officials were openly sympathetic to the Axis. Among these officials was the national police chief, who named his son Adolfo Hirohito after the best-known Axis leaders. By 1941, the official newspaper ''El País'' had adopted an overtly pro-German stance. At the same time, the government strictly controlled pro- Allied labor unions. Police cadets wore swastikas and Italian insignia on their uniforms.
The December 1941 Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...
and Germany's declaration of war against the United States gave the United States the leverage it needed, however, to force Morínigo to commit himself publicly to the Allied cause. Morínigo officially severed diplomatic relations with the Axis countries in 1942, although he did not declare war against Germany until February 1945. Nonetheless, Morínigo continued to maintain close relations with the heavily German-influenced Argentine military throughout the war and provided a haven for Axis spies and agents.
The outbreak of World War II eased Morínigo's task of ruling Paraguay while keeping the army happy, because it stimulated demand for Paraguayan export products, such as meat, hides, and cotton, and boosted the country's export earnings. More important, United States policy toward Latin America at this time made Paraguay eligible for major economic assistance. Paraguay received American financial help which was used for improving roads and other infrastructure projects.
Postwar liberalization
Pressure from the US for democratization swept South America after the war. On June 9, 1946, Morínigo dismissed Colonel Benitez Vera, the right-wing head of the army, and crushed a short uprising by Vera's supporters. He then created a civilian coalition government formed by Colorado Party members and leftist ''febreristas'', followers of former dictator
Rafael Franco
Rafael de la Cruz Franco Ojeda (October 22, 1896 – September 16, 1973) was a Paraguayan military officer and politician, served as Provisional President of Paraguay from February 17, 1936, to August 13, 1937, being also the historical leader ...
and allowed some political freedoms, going so far as legalizing the
Paraguayan Communist Party
Paraguayan Communist Party (in Spanish: ''Partido Comunista Paraguayo'') is a communist political party in Paraguay. PCP was founded on February 19, 1928. Later it was recognized as a section of the Communist International. It was brutally suppr ...
. Despite all this, in September 1946 he ordered suppression of opposition groups and used the Red Banner paramilitary group to attack the office of the Liberal newspaper ''El País''.
Civil war of 1947
Feeling that Morínigo was favouring the right-wing Colorados, the ''febreristas'' made common cause with the Liberal Party and the Communist Party in the Civil War of 1947.
The relaxation of the dictatorship was used by political parties to assert their influence in state institutions. In January 1947 officers loyal to the Colorado Party gained control of the army, and on January 11 ''febreristas'' quit the government and called on the army to overthrow Morínigo, who responded by declaring a state of siege and arresting ''febreristas'', Liberals and Communists.
On March 7 a bloody civil war started. Despite the fact that 80% of soldiers and 90% of officers were against him, Morínigo had the backing of Colorado party militias and Argentinian President
Juan Peron
''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, ...
; he managed to win a conflict that caused many thousand deaths and up to 300,000 people to flee as refugees. The future dictator
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 t ...
was one of the few officers who remained loyal to Morínigo during the civil war. For the next 15 years, the Colorados were the only legal party in Paraguay.
Removal from power
On February 15, 1948, Morínigo organized presidential elections which were won by the only candidate allowed to run, Juan Natalicio González —leader of the Colorado Party's Red Banner faction — with whom he had reached agreement that in return for his support of Gonzalez for president, he could continue as army's commander-in-chief. To prevent this, on June 3 some Colorado Party loyalists under Felipe Molas López revolted and sent him into exile in Argentina. Supreme Court Chief Justice Juan Manuel Frutos was sworn in as interim president, serving the last two months of Morínigo's term until González was officially inaugurated on August 15, 1948."Paraguay President Deposed by Army," ''El Paso Herald-Post'', June 3, 1948, p. 1