PARAGUAY 1093 



4.6 inhabitants per square mile Imports were valued at 1,250,496 and exports 957,- 

 813 in 1909-10, imports from Great Britain being valued at 525,098 and exports to 

 Great Britain 3042. The total public debt amounts to 2,149,134 (763,590 external 

 and 1,385,544 internal). The total mileage of railways is 232 and that of telegraph 

 lines 1987. The army has a strength of 100 officers and 2500 men, and the navy com- 

 prises 3 vessels with a personnel of 40. 



Towards the end of 1909 a movement was set on foot to bring about the downfall of 

 the government of Dr. Emiliano Gonzales Navero (who became president on July 5, 

 1908). There were three political parties in existence the peon or peasant class, which 

 took no part in the government and desired merely to live a peaceful agricultural life; 

 the whites, mostly descendants of the old Spanish families, who had always been an 

 exclusive class and had equally little to do with politics; and the military party, which 

 was desirous of obtaining control of the administration of the country. In January 

 1911 the ferment which had been so long in progress broke out in the form of a violent 

 revolution under the leadership of Colonel Albino Jara, minister of war and marine, who 

 had previously headed a mutiny against his own father while the latter was in command 

 of an artillery regiment. Colonel Jara forcibly assumed the office of president in opposi- 

 tion to the constitutional president, Sefior Manuel Gondra (formerly minister for foreign 

 affairs), who had been inaugurated November 25, 1910; but the country soon rose up 

 against the new dictatorial rule, and found a leader in Dr. Riquelme. Colonel Jara 

 then summoned to his aid a number of ex-Chilean officers, " soldiers of fortune." Dr. 

 Riquelme was captured and decapitated, his body being also horribly mutilated. Not 

 one of the Latin-American republics, nor any of the European governments, recognised 

 the presidency of Colonel Jara. In July 1911 Senor Liberto Rojas, who had been presi- 

 dent of the Senate, was offered and accepted the provisional presidency of the republic; 

 and Colonel Jara, notwithstanding his attitude towards the constituted authority, was 

 offered the post of minister of war; but subsequently under pressure this offer was can- 

 celled and Colonel Jara continued his revolutionary campaign. 



The Governments of Brazil and Argentina at this time showed considerable powers 

 of restraint, refraining from interfering with Paraguayan affairs, although the interests 

 of both states were seriously jeopardised by the reign of anarchy in the neighbouring 

 republic. In December 1911 the British and German ministers were appealed to 

 by the so-called Paraguayan government to support its authority, but declined. 



A rupture finally took place between Paraguay and Argentina, which resulted in the 

 withdrawal of the minister of the latter republic, Dr. Martinez Campos, from Asuncion, 

 and the despatch of the Argentine gunboat " Parana " to the Paraguayan capital. 

 " President " Jara telegraphed to the Argentine executive: " It is time that a stop was 

 put to this era of Paraguayan revolutions, fomented and organised in the country of 

 your Excellency." The reply to this provocative message was the despatch of two 

 additional Argentine gunboats and two destroyers, to join the flotilla under the com- 

 mand of Rear-Admiral O'Connor in Paraguayan waters. The special envoy from Para- 

 guay, Senor Enrique Solano Lopez, the son of a former president, was refused an audi- 

 ence by the head of the Argentine government. 



Early in March 1912, for the second time in as many months, Sefior Liberto Rojas 

 was deposed from the Presidency and Dr. Pedro Pefia was elected in his place. On the 

 22d of the same month a further revolution took place, this time under the leadership of 

 Dr. Gondra, the former president deposed by Colonel Jara; the nominee for the Chief 

 Executive was also a former president, Dr. Emiliano Gonzalez Navero, who had served 

 as chief magistrate in 1908; he was elected as provisional president March 13, 1912. 

 Dr. Pena, the ex-president, with a number of his followers, took refuge in the Uruguayan 

 Legation. A new government was formed with Dr. Gondra as minister of war, and this 

 was at once recognised by the diplomatic corps. 



On May 17, 1912 in the course of a fresh revolutionary outbreak, Colonel Albino 

 Jara, who had been mortally injured, was captured with many of his officers. He 

 succumbed to his wounds within a few hours. A new presidential election was held in 



