Former Paraguay dictator dies in exile, aged 93

ALFREDO Stroessner, the anti-communist general who ruled Paraguay with a mix of force, guile and patronage for 35 years before his ousting in 1989, died in exile yesterday aged 93.

The former dictator got pneumonia after a hernia operation in Brazil’s capital, Brasilia, where he had lived in near total isolation during the 17 years since he was forced from power.

Stoessner died of a stroke as his family gathered around him in the Hospital Santa Luzia, said Alfredo Dominguez Stroessner, a grandson of the former dictator, in a radio interview.