Alfredo Stroessner
Treatment of the Opposition
-Carlos Levi Rufinelli claims to have been “…a prisoner 19 times, and I was tortured six times…”
-Martin Almada was “arrested…and tortured for 10 days because of his union efforts to increase teacher
pay…”
-Crushed rebellions against him, one launched by an ex dictator, the other by the central bank president
http://www.notablebiographies.com/newsmakers2/2007-Pu-Z/Stroessner-Alfredo.html
Treatment of Minorities
-Harbored exiled dictators (Juan Peron and Anastasio Somoza Debayle) and Nazi war criminals (Josef
Mengele), along with smugglers of all contrabands, and ex-dictators
-Anti Communist, Pro U.S. in Cold War and Vietnam War
Base of Support
-Military supported him because of his prestigious career, former general
-Populace grudgingly accepting of him. He tolerated no dissent, but he did much for the people in the
way of projects.
-Cult of Personality among the military officers, he made weekly visits to the Officer Headquarters to
“remind them who was boss”.
Origins
-Born on November 3rd, 1912 in Encarnacion, town bordering with Argentina
-Father was a brewer from Bavaria (German last name), mother was from the aristocracy of Paraguay
-Attended military school at Asuncion
-Fought in the Chaco War (’32 to ’35) as an artillery man, promoted to officer, then general
(http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/bios/b4stroessnerda.htm)
-Commandant of artillery regiment
-Sided with Federico Chaves, member of the Colorado Party, or the National Republican Association
-The Colorado Party would later support Stroessner
-Rose to power by conducting a coup against Chaves
Regional and Foreign Impact
-Made an effort to make ties with other neighboring nations
-Paid of Paraguay’s national debt
-Bridges, pipelines, highways
-Foreign influences exerted by the U.S., who was supportive of his anti-communist views
-Pressured him to allow a certain amount of political dissent, appearance of freedom
-70’s Paraguay was one of the fastest growing economies of Latin America (Washington Post)
-U.S. presidents Carter and Reagan condemned Paraguay for his brutal dictatorship, causing the world to
alienate it
-Catholic Church advocated against him
Political and Economic Policies
-Successful at jumpstarting Paraguay’s economy, but crushed all political freedom
-The opposition was completely silenced
-Failure to please the populace led to his overthrow by a general who supported the people
-Successful projects, dams, highways, roads, etc.
Ideology
-Associated with the military
-Rose through the ranks from artilleryman to officer to general and finally to head of the armed forces
Works Cited
Bernstein, Adam. 2006. Alfredo Stroessner; Paraguayan Dictator. The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/16/AR2006081601729.html
(Accessed March 3rd, 2010)
2006. Alfredo Stroesnner. The Encyclopedia of World Biography.
http://www.notablebiographies.com/newsmakers2/2007-Pu-Z/Stroessner-Alfredo.html
(Accessed March 4th, 2010)
http://latinamericanmusings.wordpress.com/page/8/
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paraguay-Pos.png