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The 1954 coup that brought General Alfredo Stroessner to power inaugurated Paraguay’s longest-lasting dictatorship. Stroessner, an artillery officer and Colorado Party stalwart, overthrew President Federico Chávez on May 4, 1954 and quickly consolidated power . In a rigged July 1954 election he ran virtually unopposed and won 98% of the vote. Stroessner then combined military patronage with loyalty to the Colorado Party to create a personalist one-party “Stronato” that would rule Paraguay until 1989 . Throughout his rule Stroessner projected himself as a staunch anti-Communist ally of the United States, famously purging leftist rivals (with U.S. tacit approval) in 1955–56…