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Paraguay The Twin Pillars of the Stroessner Regime
Although the Colorado Party emerged triumphant from the civil
war of 1947, an ongoing struggle among its factions hindered
governmental continuity. Between 1948 and 1954, six persons
occupied the presidency. Stroessner, who had become commander in
chief of the armed forces, was an active participant in the
political intrigue of that era and eventually led his troops in a
successful coup in May 1954 against President Federico Chaves. Two
months later, Stroessner was selected as a compromise candidate by
the Colorados, who considered his presidency only a temporary
interlude, and he ran in elections from which other parties were
excluded. Relying on his control of the armed forces, and with
considerable shrewdness and the constant work for which he was
famous, Stroessner gained control over the factions of the
Colorados and subordinated the party to his interests. By 1967 all
within the party had become supporters of Stroessner
(see Consolidation of the Stroessner Regime
, ch. 1). In addition to the
control of the government itself, the major institutional bases of
his rule, and thus of the Paraguayan political system, were the
armed forces--including the national police, a paramilitary force
that was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Interior but was
headed by army officers--and the Colorado Party.
Data as of December 1988
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