Paraguay Dictator Alfredo Stroessner stamp 1963 MNH

Description

Very nice rare stamp. Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda, whose name is also spelled Strössner or Strößner (November 3, 1912, Encarnación – August 16, 2006, Brasília), was a Paraguayan military officer and dictator from 1954 to 1989. His lengthy rule was the 14th-longest ever by state leaders other than monarchs. On February 3, 1989, only a few months after being elected to his ninth full term, Stroessner was ousted by a coup d'état led by General Andrés Rodríguez. One reason for the coup was that the generals feared one of Stroessner's sons would succeed him. Of the two, Freddie was a cocaine addict and Gustavo, a pilot, was loathed for being a homosexual. A more outlandish rumour was that Lino Oviedo threatened Rodriguez with a grenade if he did not launch the coup. Stroessner was with his mistress when he heard of the coup. Unfortunately, so was the general with the keys to Stroessner's tanks. The two generals fought a brief artillery duel over Asuncion. After the coup, Stroessner fled to Brazil, where he lived in exile for the next seventeen and a half years.