I just came across an interesting variation on this. Shortly after Paraguay achieved independence from Spain, the dictator, Jose Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia, decided to break the power of the nation’s Spanish elite. The way to do this, he apparently decided, was by making them no longer Spanish.
In March 1814, Francia banned Spaniards from marrying each other; they had to wed Indians, blacks, or mulattoes.
Did this actually work?
ReplyDeleteApparently so -- the CIA Factbook lists Paraguay's population as 95% mestizo -- much higher than any other South American country that I looked at (e.g., Ecuador is 72%, Peru only 37%).
ReplyDeleteMore to come about Paraguay in future posts. Interesting history.