Editing Paraguay (section)

===Stroessner era, 1954–1989===
{{see also|El Stronato|Operation Condor}}
A series of unstable governments ensued until the establishment in 1954 of the regime of dictator [[Alfredo Stroessner]], who remained in office for more than three decades until 1989. Paraguay was modernized to some extent under Stroessner's regime, although his rule was marked by extensive human rights abuses.<ref>{{cite news |first=Adam |last=Bernstein |date=17 August 2006 |title=Alfredo Stroessner; Paraguayan dictator |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |location=Washington, DC |access-date=2 May 2010 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/16/AR2006081601729.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516121443/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/16/AR2006081601729.html |archive-date=16 May 2011}}</ref>

Stroessner and the ''Colorado'' party ruled the country from 1954 to 1989. The dictator oversaw an era of economic expansion, but also had a poor human rights and environmental record (see "Political History"). Paraguay actively participated in [[Operation Condor]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Dinges |first=John |title=Operation Condor |website=latinamericanstudies.org |publisher=[[Columbia University]] |url=http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/chile/operation-condor.htm |url-status=live |access-date=6 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722031734/http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/chile/operation-condor.htm |archive-date=22 July 2018}}</ref> Torture and death for political opponents was routine. After his overthrow, the ''Colorado'' continued to dominate national politics until 2008.

The splits in the ''Colorado'' Party in the 1980s, and the prevailing conditions – Stroessner's advanced age, the character of the regime, the economic downturn, and [[international isolation]] – were catalysts for anti-regime demonstrations and statements by the opposition prior to the 1988 general elections.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}

''[[Authentic Radical Liberal Party|PLRA]]'' leader [[Domingo Laíno]] served as the focal point of the opposition in the second half of the 1980s. The government's effort to isolate Laíno by exiling him in 1982 had backfired. On his sixth attempt to reenter the country in 1986, Laíno returned with three television crews from the U.S., a former United States ambassador to Paraguay, and a group of Uruguayan and Argentine congressmen. Despite the international contingent, the police violently barred Laíno's return.<ref>{{cite web |title=Paraguay 1987, Chapter 4 |url=http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Paraguay87eng/chap.4.htm |website=[[Inter-American Commission on Human Rights]] (cidh.org) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507100105/http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Paraguay87eng/chap.4.htm |archive-date=7 May 2021}}</ref>

The Stroessner regime relented in April&nbsp;1987, and permitted Laíno to return to Asunción. Laíno took the lead in organizing demonstrations and reducing infighting among the opposition party. The opposition was unable to reach agreement on a common strategy regarding the elections, with some parties advocating abstention, and others calling for blank voting. The parties held numerous 'lightning demonstrations' (''mítines relámpagos''), especially in rural areas. Such demonstrations were gathered and quickly disbanded before the arrival of the [[police]].

In response to the upsurge in opposition activities, Stroessner condemned the Accord for advocating "sabotage of the general elections and disrespect of the law". He used national police and civilian [[vigilantes]] of the ''Colorado'' Party to break up demonstrations. A number of opposition leaders were imprisoned or otherwise harassed. {{ill|Hermes Rafael Saguier|es}}, another key leader of the ''PLRA'', was imprisoned for four months in 1987 on charges of sedition. In early February 1988, police arrested 200&nbsp;people attending a National Coordinating Committee meeting in [[Coronel Oviedo]]. Laíno and several other opposition figures were arrested before dawn on the day of the election, 14&nbsp;February, and held for twelve hours. The government declared Stroessner's reelection with 89% of the vote.<ref>{{cite news |title=Paraguayan wins his eighth term |date=15 February 1988 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/15/world/paraguayan-wins-his-eighth-term.html?scp=3&sq=Paraguay%20february%201988&st=cse |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816064442/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/15/world/paraguayan-wins-his-eighth-term.html?scp=3&sq=Paraguay%20february%201988&st=cse |archive-date=16 August 2017}}</ref>

The opposition attributed the results in part to the virtual Colorado monopoly on the mass media. They noted that 53% of those polled indicated that there was an "uneasiness" in Paraguayan society. 74% believed that the political situation needed changes, including 45% who wanted a substantial or total change. Finally, 31% stated that they planned to abstain from voting in the February elections.{{Citation needed|date=September 2008}}