Haunted by ghosts of its dictatorship, Paraguay set to pivot back to the right in election

[Judi Lynn]

The military regime of Alfredo Stroessner jailed, tortured and ‘disappeared’ opponents. Now the son of Stroessner’s private secretary is likely to become president

Laurence Blair in Asunción
Fri 20 Apr 2018 05.00 EDT

Fifty-eight years later, when Rogelio Goiburú dug up the body in a remote part of eastern Paraguay this March, a few teeth were all that were left to identify it.

“We’re fighting against time,” he said. Paraguay’s soil is highly acidic, he explained. “It eats bones very quickly, so the DNA disappears, and it’s much harder to obtain a genetic profile.”

Goiburú, 62, heads Paraguay’s commission for historical memory and reparation. Since 2011, the underfunded body has documented some 450 desaparecidos, located and exhumed 37 bodies, named four, and returned them to living relatives where possible.

All were victims of the 1954-89 regime of Alfredo Stroessner, which jailed, raped, tortured and “disappeared” opponents under the auspices of a US-backed anti-communist crusade.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/20/paraguay-presidential-election-past-dictatorship-right

[Judi Lynn]

1. Son of Stroessner-era figure expected to win Paraguay vote

Pedro Servin, Associated Press Updated 11:13 pm, Friday, April 20, 2018

ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) — The son of a top aide to late Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner is expected to easily win Sunday's presidential election, promising to continue the country's strong economic growth with business-friendly policies.

Mario Abdo Benitez's father was the private secretary of Stroessner, who ruled the landlocked South American country with an iron fist from 1954-1989. Known as "Marito," the 46-year-old Abdo Benitez is running for ruling Colorado party, which was once led by the late dictator.

. . .

Both candidates have similar platforms, promising to attract foreign investment to create jobs in an economy that has been one of the fastest-growing in the region but still suffers from high poverty levels and extreme inequality.

Paraguay's economy has been growing annually by about 6 percent over the past five years. But the country suffers from endemic corruption, poverty affects nearly 29 percent of its population and about 80 percent of all lands are in the hands of just 2 percent of its population, according to estimates by the aid agency Oxfam Intermon.

More:
https://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Son-of-Stroessner-era-figure-expected-to-win-12852994.php