Paraguay Under Stroessner

Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda (1912 - 2006) was a Paraguayan Army officer who served as President of Paraguay from 1954 to 1989. He ascended to the position after leading an army coup in 1954. His 35-year-long rule, marked by an uninterrupted period of repression in his country, is the longest in modern South American history. Stroessner's rule is ranked 21st-longest among non-royal national leaders since 1900 and made him one of the world's longest-serving non-royal heads of state.