Articles by mgedwards

Politics, Paraguayan style

In case you’re wondering why life has been so crazy this year, let me recap for you politics a la Paraguay.  Today’s events in the Senate spurred me to break the ice and write something about the political situation here.  I’ve tried to avoid it, but it never ceases to amaze me what can happen in this country.  I can neither confirm nor deny that what is written below is completely true or false, but it’s a snapshot of what has played out in the press since late last year.
 
A former Catholic bishop who resigned from the clergy (Fernando Lugo) ran for president of Paraguay this year against a female former education minister (Blanca Ovelar) backed by the former president (Nicanor Duarte Frutos) with a six percent approval rating, and a former general (Lino Oviedo) released from jail just before the election.  (Oviedo was in imprisoned for his alleged coup attempt in 1996 and alleged involvement in the assassination of former vice president Luis Argana.)  Persistent rumors fueled by the press conjecture that former president Duarte and Oviedo struck a deal to let Oviedo out of jail in exchange for dividing the opposition vote and putting Colorado presidential candidate Ovelar in office as president. 
 
Former bishop Lugo won the presidency decisively in April of this year, ending 61 years of Colorado Party rule — the longest-lived ruling party at the time.  The Pope granted Lugo a waiver (dispensation) August 12 to serve as president — an unprecedented move by the Church.  Lugo was sworn in as president on August 15.  Both made the headline news worldwide.  August 15 was interesting, to say the least, with a slough of dignitaries ranging from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to Taiwanese President Ma Ying-Jeou.  (Paraguay maintains diplomatic relations with the Republic of China, a.k.a. Taiwan.)
 
Former president Duarte won a seat in the Senate in April; however, his opponents claim that he violated the Paraguayan Constitution by running for a Senate seat while serving as president.  (In Paraguay, you must resign your position before running for office.  Duarte did not and continued to serve as president while running for Senator.)  Duarte finally decided to resign in June, months after the election.  However, opposition — now majority — members of the Senate boycotted several Senate sessions for the past three months in order to prevent Duarte from swearing in and joining the Senate.
 
In a surprise move, this morning Senate President Enrique Gonzalez Quintana — a member of Oviedo’s party, the National Union of Ethical Citizens (UNACE) — unilaterally swore Duarte in as Senator, contrary to Senate rules and without a quorum or vote.  He claimed that he was fulfilling the mandate of the National Elections Tribunal (TSJE), which designated Duarte senator-elect in April.  Members of the Senate who are opposed to Duarte’s confirmation convened an alternate Senate special session this afternoon to consider Gonzalez’ and Duarte’s fate.  As of this writing, Gonzalez prevailed, and Duarte remains a Senator.  We’ll see what happens over the coming days in the aftermath of this crazy day.  Although today was especially momentous in Paraguayan politics, it’s not really much different than any other day.
 
Stay tuned tomorrow.  I’m sure the action will continue.

Are the Olympics over yet?

The Beijing Olympics ended today.  Interestingly, I didn’t really care.  I did not have much interest in these Olympics, although my wife — who was born in China — spent plenty of time watching the games.  My son also enjoyed watching some of the events.  However, even my wife did not spend as much time watching the Olympics as one might think for an Olympics hosted for the first time by her birth nation.  I didn’t have much interest partly because life has been so busy here, and partly because I feel quite isolated from the rest of the world in Paraguay.  I thought about the Olympics when walking past the Paraguayan Olympic Committee’s training facility yesterday, but only fleetingly.  Likewise, I spent perhaps 15 minutes in several installments watching the games.  The coverage — Argentine cable broadcast from Buenos Aires — wasn’t very good.  Once upon a time, when I was much younger, I spent untold hours watching Olympic event after Olympic event.  Not anymore.
 
Somewhere along the way, I lost interest.  I just wasn’t that interested in the games this year.  The most intriguing aspects of this summer’s Olympics were the controversies; and even those weren’t very noteworthy.  Of coure, it was a tragedy that the American family was attacked by a knife-wielding Chinese.  So the fireworks during the Opening Ceremony were enhanced, and the Chinese had a pretty girl lip-sync in lieu of not-so-cute one who sang the national anthem.  Or the Armenian-Swedish wrestler who was stripped of his medal for unsportsman-like conduct but turn out to be right when he contested a bad call.  Or the apparently underage Chinese gymnast the IOC absolved in three hours.  Even the debate over medal counts didn’t stir up much fury in me.  The U.S. won 110 medals; the Chinese 100.  The Chinese won 51 gold medals, the American 36.  The IOC and the rest of the world would say that the Chinese won based on the IOC’s regulations (which, obviously based on the gymnast age controversy, can be bent when necessary).  Yet the American media stubbornly continued to rank the U.S. first. 
 
 
None of it really matters, in the end.  The Chinese staged an excellent Summer Olympics, and they will continue to be a presence in the future.  The IOC will continue to make flaky decisions and annoyingly appeal to nationalist sentiments to bolster support for what is — when you boil the games down to its essence — really just a large collection of sporting events.  Someday, the United States will host the games again, perhaps as early as 2016 in Chicago.  Someday, India and Brazil will host an Olympics; someday Shanghai, China will host the Summer Olympics, and Harbin, China will host the Winter Olympics.  But for now, I really want to know why I really don’t care all that much anymore.
 

When work feels like heaven

I never thought that work could be so good.  I haven’t had a chance to sit down in peace and quiet and work here at home for four uninterrupted hours for as long as I can remember.  I didn’t do much more than work, but I can’t remember when working was such a pleasant thing to do.  After a late night in the office on Monday, a representational event last Tuesday night, an open house at my son’s school on Wednesday night, an official visit on Thursday night and Friday, and a large goodbye barbeque last night for good friends who will soon leave the country — spending a few hours tonight with peace, quiet, and no interruptions felt like heaven.  Even if I was only working.  Never underestimate those precious moments that pass by so quickly.