Former Paraguayan dictator Stroessner dies in Brazil

Alfredo Stroessner, the canny anti-communist general who ruled Paraguay with a blend of force, guile and patronage for 35 years before his ousting in 1989, died in exile today. He was 93.

Stroessner came down with 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.