Editing Alfredo Stroessner (section)

===Economics===
Stroessner dedicated large proportions of the Paraguayan national budget to the military and police apparatus, both fundamental to the maintenance of the regime. According to a 1963 article from ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine, Stroessner spent 33% of the 1962 annual budget on army and police, 15% for [[Education in Paraguay|education]], and just 2% for [[public works]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081222102436/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,828019,00.html Dictator by Popular Request], ''Time'', February 22, 1963</ref> There was no income tax and public spending was the smallest percentage of GDP in [[Latin America]].

Stroessner enacted several economic development projects, including the building of the [[Itaipu Dam]], the largest [[Hydroelectricity|hydroelectric]] [[Power station|power plant]] in the world at the time: although Paraguay received only 15% of the contracts, it was a major factor in the country having the highest rate of growth in Latin America for most of the 1970s.<ref>[http://www.economist.com/obituary/displaystory.cfm?story_id=7826946 ''The Economist'' Obituary: Alfredo Stroessner]. Economist.com (August 24, 2006). Retrieved on 2014-08-21.</ref> The construction of the Itaipu Dam, as well as that of the subsequent [[Yacyretá Dam]] on the [[Argentina–Paraguay border|Paraguay–Argentina Border]], displaced thousands of Paraguayans, often without any restitution.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} The Itaipu Dam displaced at least 80,000 Paraguayans, and the Yacyretá was estimated to have displaced at least as many by December 2008.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} 160 workers died building the Itaipu Dam.<ref>[[#Gimlette|Gimlette]], p. 277</ref>

Stroessner also promoted projects that purportedly developed the country's infrastructure. Amongst these were the improvement of highways and the issuing of 15–20 hectare land grants to military personnel upon completion of their service, provided that the land would be used for farming purposes.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} Over 10,000 soldiers took up this offer.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}} By the end of [[El Stronato|the ''Stronato'']], the second biggest city was Puerto Flor de Lis (renamed "Puerto Presidente Stroessner," then "[[Ciudad del Este]]"), founded just 32 years before.