Editing Alfredo Stroessner (section)

==Human rights violations==
Under Stroessner Paraguay was a leading participant in [[Operation Condor]], a campaign of [[state terrorism]] and security operations which were jointly conducted by the right-wing [[military dictatorship]]s of six Latin American countries (Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil). Human rights violations characteristic of those in other Latin American countries such as kidnapping, [[torture]], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forced_disappearance forced disappearance] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extrajudicial_killing extrajudicial killing], were routine and systematic during the Stroessner regime. Following executions, many of the bodies of those killed by the regime were dumped in the Chaco or the Rio Paraguay. The discovery of the "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terror_archives terror archives]" in 1992 in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambar%C3%A9 Lambaré] suburb of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asunci%C3%B3n Asunción], confirmed allegations of widespread human rights violations.

Under Stroessner, egregious human rights violations and acts of [[ethnic cleansing]] were committed against the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ache Ache] Indian population of Paraguay's eastern districts. The Ache Indians resided on land that was coveted by foreign multinationals and had resisted relocation attempts by the Paraguayan army. The government retaliated with massacres and forced many Ache into slavery. In 1974 the UN accused Paraguay of [[slavery]] and [[genocide]]. During his regime Stroessner also sheltered many exiles including Nicaraguan dictator [[Anastasio Somoza Deybale]], Argentine dictator [[Juan Perón]], and [[Nazi]] scientist [[Josef Mengele]].

Paraguay enjoyed close military and economic ties with the United States and supported US invasion of the Dominican Republic. The Stroessner regime even offered to send troops to Vietnam alongside the Americans during the [[Vietnam War]]. The United States played a "critical supporting role" in the domestic affairs of Stoessner's Paraguay. Between 1962 and 1975 the US provided $146 million to Paraguay's military government and Paraguayan officers were trained at the US Army School of the Americas. Although the military and security forces under Stroessner received less material support from the United States than other South American countries, strong inter-military connections existed through military advisors and military training.

Between 1962 and 1966, nearly 400 Paraguayan military personnel were trained by the United States in the Panama Canal Zone and on US soil. Strong Paraguayan-U.S. relations continued until the Carter Administration emphasized a foreign policy that recognized human rights abuses, although both military and economic aid were allotted to the Paraguayan government in Carter's budgets. The Reagan Administration restored more cordial relations due to Stroessner's staunch anti-communism, but by the mid 1980s relations cooled, largely because of the international outcry over the regime's excesses, along with its involvement in [[Illegal Drug Trade|narcotics trafficking]] and [[money laundering]]. In 1986, The Reagan administration added his regime to its list of Latin American dictatorships.

As leader of the [[Colorado Party]], Stroessner exercised nearly complete control over the nation's political scene. Although opposition parties were nominally permitted after 1962 (the Colorado Party had been the only legal party in the country since 1947), Paraguay remained for all intents and purposes a one-party state. Elections were so heavily rigged in favor of the Colorados that the opposition had no realistic chance of winning, and opposition figures were subjected to varying degrees of harassment.

Stroessner's rule brought more stability than most of the country's living residents had previously known. From 1927 to 1954, the country had had 22 presidents, including six from 1948 to 1954 alone. However, it came at a high cost. Corruption was rampant (Stroessner himself did not dispute charges of corruption at some levels in his government) and Paraguay's human rights record was considered one of the poorest in South America. During Stroessner's regime, an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 people were murdered, 400 to 500 more were "disappeared," and thousands more imprisoned and tortured.

Press freedom was also limited, constitutional guarantees notwithstanding. Any outcry about government mistreatment or attacks toward the Colorado Party would result in destruction of the media outlets. Many media executives were sent to prison or tortured. Because of this, political opponents were few and far between. Near the end of this presidency, he declared that he would remove the state of siege, but quickly recanted after students began protesting trolley fares.

In 1989, Stroessner was overthrown in a military ''coup d'état'' led by his former confidant, General Andrés Rodríguez, and was forced into [[exile]] in Brazil, where he spent the last 17 years of his life. Following a bout of pneumonia, he tried to return to his homeland to die, but was rejected by the government. He died in Brasília on August 16<sup>th</sup>, 2006, of complications from a hernia operation.