Stroessner,Alfredo b. November 3, 1912; Encarnacion, Paraguay
President of Paraguay, commander in chief of its armed forces, and titular head of the largest political party (Partido Colorado) between 1954 and 1989. He oversaw a period of unprecedented economic growth and modernization, mostly due to the construction of the massive Itaipu hydroelectric project, and a degree of political order and stability not evident in Paraguay since the mid-1800s, thanks largely to authoritarian repression.
Stroessner is of German and Paraguayan parentage. Son of an immigrant German brewer, Hugo Stroessner, and a Paraguayan woman, Heriberta Mati- auda, Alfredo Stroessner personified the German American connection. At age sixteen he entered the national military college located in the capital city, Asuncion, and never looked back. He first earned the notice of his superiors as an artillery officer during the Chaco War (1932—1935) against Bolivia. He was subsequently appointed to positions of increasing rank and privilege with the army. At age thirty-nine Stroessner was appointed commander in chief of the Paraguayan armed forces in October 1951. Less than three years later, in May 1954, Stroessner forged a tactical alliance with leading members of the faction-ridden Colorados to position himself as the sole presidential candidate. Thereafter he was ritualistically “elected” president seven times. Although Stroessner faced an opposition candidate beginning with the 1963 election, his take of the popular vote usually exceeded 90 percent.By the time he was removed from power in 1989, Stroessner had ruled longer than any other Latin American head of state (since surpassed by Cuba's Fidel Castro). The novelist Graham Greene, whose travels to Paraguay supplied much of the colorful backdrop to one of his works, once famously likened Stroessner to a skillful owner of a “beer cellar” who knew how to handle his customers.
Purposely alluding to the vocation of Stroessner's father, Greene encapsulated the theme essential to understanding Stroessner's longevity: the ability to bring order and stability to a country that since its independence in 1811 had experienced several tumultuous international and civil wars that devastated its population, society, and national identity.
Stroessner enforced this order through a combination of co-opting potential threats to his personal power, institutionalizing official corruption and engaging in contraband trade as a means of dispensing patronage to loyal Colorado members, and brutally repressing social movements and dissident political opponents. A prominent international human rights monitoring group labeled conditions inside Paraguay during the 1970s as “medieval” for the grisly torture routinely practiced on its political prisoners. Stroessner used fear to underpin a highly integrated tripartite system of presidential, military, and political power.
Stroessner’s personality and manner of rule most closely resembled the traditional figure of the caudillo, a dominant figure able to force order on society by dint of strong personality and violence. Yet Stroessner relied on more than simple force. The Stroessner regime is more accurately described as authoritarian rather than totalitarian, lacking as it did a totalizing ideological view of Paraguayan society. A rather unusual cult of personality even developed around Stroessner that emphasized his utter lack of personality. Although never described as particularly charismatic, he exhibited several characteristics that proved conducive to his longevity. Most accounts of his work habits describe him as “industrious.” He frequently crisscrossed the country to attend numerous dedication ceremonies, where he spent considerable time cultivating ties with local officials as a means of keeping informed about events outside the capital. His name and image were ubiquitous adornments throughout the country.
The most recognizable of these was a large neon sign in downtown Asuncion that bore the phrase “Peace, Jobs, and Well-being with Stroessner.” One of the few missteps of his regime that bears on the German American connection occurred in 1985 when members of the West German Social Democratic and Green parties protested Stroessner’s planned visit to the birthplace of his father at Hof in Bavaria; the state visit was promptly cancelled.Just as Stroessner’s many years in office began with a golpe de estado (coup d’etat), so too did they end. Rival political factions within the Colorados fought over the question of choosing (not electing) a suitable successor to the faltering Stroessner. General Andres Rodrιguez, a military officer and erstwhile ally of Stroessner, engineered the putsch that finally overthrew the president in 1989. (To the surprise of many observers, Rodrιguez instituted several democratic reforms and voluntarily stepped down as president after one term in office.) Stroessner was briefly detained at the home of his mistress by Paraguayan troops, and later surrendered on February 3, 1989. Upon this ignominious exit from the presidency of Paraguay, Stroessner opted for political asylum in Brazil, where he continues to reside in 2005.
Kirk Tyvela
See also Paraguay
References and Further Reading
Bourne, Richard. Political Leaders of Latin America. New York: Knopf, 1970.
Lewis, Paul H. Paraguay under Stroessner. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1980.
Miranda, Carlos R. The Stroessner Era: Authoritarian Rule in Paraguay. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1990.