Encarnación (Paraguay), 1912- Brasilia (Brasil), 2006

By Emir Sader

General of the Army and a member of the Colorado Party, Alfredo Stroessner led the coup that overthrew President Federico Chávez in 1954, remaining as the dictator of Paraguay for 35 years. The coup was supported by then-Argentinian President Juan Domingo Perón, whose style Stroessner initially tried to emulate. In the early years, he faced significant mobilizations of resistance, always responding with severe repression and systematic persecution of opponents, which became the hallmark of his regime.

Economically, he strengthened relations with foreign capital, expanding concessions for oil exploration to companies from Argentina and Brazil. He ran for reelection in 1958, suppressing strong resistance within his own Colorado Party. Stroessner dissolved Congress, declared a state of siege, and deported adversaries. He began to govern openly as a dictator, being reelected in 1963, 1968, 1973, 1978, 1983, and 1988.

From the 1970s onwards, opponents systematically accused him of human rights violations. Despite a certain degree of economic growth, resulting from foreign investments and the construction of the Itaipu hydroelectric plant—which made Paraguay the largest exporter of electrical energy in the world—over 1 million Paraguayans began to live outside the country. Under intense pressure from within his own party and abroad, he was ousted by a military coup on February 3, 1989, by General Andrés Rodríguez, the second-in-command of the regime. Following this, Stroessner went into exile in Brazil, where he died.