Armed opposition to the Stroessner regime in Paraguay: a review article

This review article addresses the little-known armed opposition to the Stroessner regime in Paraguay (1954–89) that remained virtually unreported during the dictatorship. It is based largely on first-hand accounts and official documents that have only recently become available. The Movimiento 14 de Mayo, led by radicals of the Liberal Party and the Frente Unido de Liberación Nacional, led by the Paraguayan communist party, together mobilized around 300 insurgents from Argentina during 1959–1962. Throughout the 1960s, the Columna Mariscal López, backed by the communist party, maintained a tenuous presence inside the country. The review shows that although substantial in scale, these insurgencies all failed. There were several reasons for this. The regime employed a harsh counter insurgency strategy of preventive repression that was adept at infiltration of movements with poor internal security. It was also skillful in manipulating nationalist sentiment against what was perceived as foreign aggression.