MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Paraguay: no official tribute for former dictator

The Paraguayan government said that no official tribute will be paid to former dictator Alfredo Stroessner, who died Wednesday in Brazil at the age of 93, if his family decides to bury his remains in Paraguay.

Deputy Foreign Minister Luis Morinigo said that "if General Stroessner's family decides to bring him to Paraguay, the government is not going to organize any official ceremony as former president since he had cases pending before the Paraguayan courts". He recalled that the former dictator was a fugitive from justice and Paraguay had on several occasions requested his extradition.

Morinigo said there are also "multiple accusations from the Truth and Justice Commission" that is investigating human rights violations during his several decades' long dictatorship.

His fugitive condition and human rights accusations "don't allow us to organize any military honours or tribute as ex-president" insisted Morinigo adding that "we respect the grief of the Stroessner family".

He pointed out that if the family decides to bury his body in Paraguay "surely supporters or people who sympathized with General Stroessner will go to the airport" to pay their respects.

"The government will guarantee the safety of the people who may carry out some demonstration in favour or against".

Some pro-Stroessner politicians said Wednesday that the former dictator has the right to military honours because he remained an Army general until his death and collected his pension.

The main opposition Authentic Radical Liberal Party (PLRA), meanwhile, characterized as a "triumph of impunity" the fact that Stroessner was not convicted in a Paraguayan court.

The PLRA, a staunch opponent of the Stroessner regime, said that it "cannot refrain from expressing its disappointment at the courts' inaction (and failure) to provide compensation for so much damage caused" during the general's rule.

Stroessner took power in a coup and ruled Paraguay with an iron hand from 1954 until 1989, when he was ousted in an another putsch headed by the father-in-law of one of his sons, General Andres Rodriguez, who died in 1997.

During the harshest period of repression under the general, at least 10,000 people were arrested and interned for alleged political dissidence, according to human rights groups. However others claim the total number of political prisoners for the 35-year period was closer to 45,000.

Stroessner lived in exile in the Brazilian capital after being toppled from power. Brazil never granted Paraguay his extradition. He died early Wednesday following inguinal hernia surgery and pneumonia, which apparently he contracted in the intensive care unit.