Alfredo Stroessner

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Stroessner and the second or maternal family name is Matiauda.

Alfredo Stroessner
Stroessner in 1959
42nd President of Paraguay
In office
15 August 1954 – 3 February 1989
Preceded byTomás Romero Pereira
Succeeded byAndrés Rodríguez
Personal details
Born(1912-11-03)3 November 1912
Encarnación, Paraguay
Died16 August 2006(2006-08-16) (aged 93)
Brasília, Brazil
Political partyColorado Party (1951–1989)
SpouseEligia Mora Delgado [es][1]
Children3
Alma materMariscal Francisco Solano López Military Academy [es]
Signature
Military service
Branch/serviceParaguayan Army
Years of service1929–1989
Rank
Battles/wars
Alfredo Stroessner's voice
Stroessner's speech during a signing of binational agreements
(recorded 29 November 1979)

Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda (Spanish: [alˈfɾeðo esˈtɾosneɾ]; 3 November 1912 – 16 August 2006) was a Paraguayan army officer, politician, and dictator who served as President of Paraguay from 15 August 1954 until his overthrow from power on 3 February 1989. His dictatorship is commonly referred inside Paraguay as El Stronato.

Stroessner led a coup d'état on 4 May 1954 with the support of the army and the Colorado Party, with which he was affiliated. After a brief provisional government headed by Tomás Romero Pereira, he was the Colorado Party's presidential candidate for the 1954 general election, and was elected unopposed since all other parties were banned from 1947 to 1962. Stroessner later officially assumed the presidency on 15 August 1954, quickly suspended constitutional and civil rights, and began a period of harsh repression with the support of the army and the military police (which also served as a secret police) against anyone who opposed his authoritarian rule. Even when opposition parties were legalized in 1962, they were barely tolerated, and the repression continued. On 25 August 1967, he introduced a new constitution enabling him to re-elect himself; in 1977 he modified that constitution to permit himself to be re-elected indefinitely. He was fraudulently re-elected seven times from 1958 until 1988; approximately six months after the 1988 general election, he was overthrown in the coup d'état of 2 and 3 February 1989, led by his most trusted confidant, Lieutenant general Andrés Rodríguez Pedotti, with the support of the army.

On 5 February 1989, two days after the coup, Stroessner was exiled to Brazil, where he spent the last 17 years of his life. He died in August 2006 at the Santa Luzia Hospital in Brasília after suffering from pneumonia. He was buried in the Campo da Esperança Cemetery.[3]

  1. ^ Gunson, Phil (17 August 2006). "General Alfredo Stroessner – Dictator who mastered the fixing of elections and made Paraguay a smugglers' paradise". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  2. ^ "Ley Nº 358 / AMPLIA EL ESCALAFÓN MILITAR DE LAS FUERZAS ARMADAS DE LA NACIÓN CON EL GRADO DE GENERAL DE EJERCITO". bacn.gov.py (in Spanish). 23 September 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  3. ^ "Así murió Stroessner hace 10 años". ultimahora.com (in Spanish). 16 August 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2022.