Alfredo Stroessner

Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda (Spanish: [alˈfɾeðo esˈtɾosneɾ]; 3 November 1912 – 16 August 2006) was a Paraguayan politician, army general, and military dictator who ruled as the 42nd president of Paraguay from 15 August 1954 until his overthrow in 1989. Known as El Stronato or El Stronismo, his dictatorship was marked by political violence. Before his accession to the presidency, he was the country's de facto leader from May to August 1954.

Stroessner rose to power after leading the 1954 coup d'état on 4 May, with backing from the Colorado Party, and the Paraguayan Army. Following a brief provisional government under Tomás Romero Pereira, he was elected unopposed in the 1954 presidential election, as all opposition parties had been banned since 1947.

He quickly suspended constitutional and civil rights upon taking office on 15 August 1954. With the army and military police, who acted as a secret police, he instituted a period of authoritarian rule and violent political repression (especially of opponents, whose parties were nominally legalized in 1962). From the 1958 through the 1988 elections, Stroessner maintained power by electoral fraud. The Constitution of 1967, introduced on 25 August, permitted his re-election, and changes in 1977 effectively enabled his indefinite rule.

His trusted confidant Lieutenant General Andrés Rodríguez Pedotti seized power in the 1989 coup d'état of 2 and 3 February. Stroessner was exiled to Brazil on 5 February, where he died on 16 August 2006 and was buried. His legacy continues in Paraguay, where his Colorado Party has retained power and continues to rule through clientelistic practices.