The death of Alfredo Stroessner

international | history and heritage | other press Tuesday August 15, 2006 15:38 by iosaf = sofia

& will all the secrets die too ......?

Most Irish readers will probably not recognise the name Alfredo Stroessner, nor upon learning he was the military dictator of Paraguay (one of the smallest least productive or even individually characteristic states of South America) think him significant. Many Irish readers will wonder why I even both bringing their attention to his imminent death at 93 years in Brasilia where he has lived in exile since 1989.

Alfredo Stroessner as dictator of Paraguay (1954-1989) offered exile to the World War 2 Nazi leadership, working closely with the group "ODESSA", his regime facilitated the proven flight & indentity changes of individuals such as Josef Mengele and is still suspected by some as organising the escape from justice of Martin Bormann and even more historically perversive - Adolf Hitler himself.

As such an instrumental character in the post war flight of Nazi's and SS, many readers might be surprised to know Stroessner enjoyed in his time excellent relations with the USA. & as such played a key role in "operation Condor" that installed right wing fascistic dictatorships throughout the continent. & even murkier, saw ex-officers of the SS return to work for the CIA and local intelligence services of the dictatorships of Chile, Argentina & Brazil.

Today's most lasting relic of that period in 1955 to 1960 when we know Josef Mengele the doctor of Auschwitz set up first his agricultural machinery company and then his pharmaceutical company (plausibly complete with his research data from the death camp which "disappeared") is the city of Brasilia where 93 year old Stroessner is about to die "in agony". A city which was built in the middle of the jungle of sparkling new concrete and almost Albert Speer like arrogance. A city without poor residents or even neighbours where the military junta & their backers could meet & talk.

& meet & talk they did :-

Leaving aside the theory of Hitler's escape to Paraguay which is surprisingly factually & circumstancially well based apart from the crucial last 3 weeks of the Berlin bunker (with which many are familiar thanks to a popular recent movie " der untergang" )

We know our ought know about operation Condor & how Pinochet was just one dot in a great picture of fascism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Condor
* We know that contacts were made between the South African apartheid regime and the states of Condor.
* We know that active contacts were made between Mengele's assistant who had found refuge in Damascus Syria and the list of "Odessa" veterans.
* We know that at some point surgical advances were made in both the states of South America and South Africa to see the first human organ transplants.
* We know that at some point attempts were made in jungle labs to genetically modify human material.
* we know that a similar form of virus to our modern day HIV was found to be a hybrid of an agent developed on Rhesus monkeys in South Africa with data from South America.

In short any attention paid to this man and the regime and conspiracies behind him mvoe you to "knowing" nothing. Just observing co-incidences & suspicions & exhuming graves.


In Paraguay already the current regime is rejecting any state funeral or post-humous honours and the Brazilian democracy who inherited this exile from their own previous dictatorships refuses to comment on a "private citizen" in an expensive health clinic in that great shiney city in the jungle.

The legacy of Alfredo Stroessner thus will be movies & conspiracy "fiction faction" only one other leader out lasted him in power - Castro.

* the boys of Brazil.
* Brazil.
* the odessa file.
* "der untergang" by Oliver Hirschbiegel.

I classify this as opther press because today I want you to read wikipedia links :-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfredo_Stroessner
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ODESSA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Condor