Review of STROESSNER & the Reign of Terror

[mrlefty0706]

"STROESSNER & the Reign of Terror" by Kim Ekemar is a book about the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner in Paraguay and the story is divided into five parts. Stroessner was the longest serving dictator in all of South America and the author wrote this book from his personal experience with the Stroessner regime. Stroessner held several beliefs which included limiting citizen freedom as the price for peace. Anyone that stood in his way was tortured and books that opposed his dictatorship were confiscated. Paraguay was receiving economic and military aid from the U.S. to prevent the country from becoming a haven for communism. He faced a major dilemma when the U.S. president wanted Auguste Ricord extradited to the U.S. or Paraguay would lose their financial aid. Ricord did business with Stroessner’s loyalists and therefore he did not want to allow Ricord to be extradited. Kim Ekemar personally experienced Stroessner’s dictatorship when he was tortured in 1985 and he learned from others the atrocities Stroessner committed in order to stay in power. Corruption was his major tool and torture was the system that enabled his dictatorship to maintain itself. He had people whose jobs were to torture anyone that opposed Stroessner’s government. Kim relates stories about the dictatorship, terror, torture, drug trafficking, sexual abuse, the Nazi link and Operation Condor, an op to keep the countries in the southern end of South America from converting to communism. The descriptions of the torture inflicted upon a pregnant woman and women with children who were held in jail are not for the weak hearted reader. He also tortured children and bathed them in the blood flowing from their slit throats. The book is not sequentially organized with the demise, exile and death of Stroessner in the first section of the book while events that occurred during his 35-year reign of terror are described later in the book. While the book was edited for spelling and grammatical errors, the editor did not change the out of sequence order in the chapters.

[Bethel Saint Bright]

This sounds like a fascinating and intense read. Kim Ekemar's "Stroessner & the Reign of Terror" seems to offer a deep dive into one of South America's most enduring and brutal dictatorships. I can't wait to see what I can learn from it.

[Ohanele Chinonyerem]

"STROESSNER & the Reign of Terror" by Kim Ekemar sounds intense and interesting. It shows how Stroessner controlled an entire country through fear, and I’m curious about how he managed to ruled Paraguay for so long.

[Janet Kimetto]

"Stroessner & the Reign of Terror" by Kim Ekemar tells the recent history of Paraguay, a country that fell into dictatorship after years of happiness. I agree with the author that "to build the future, it is very important to educate using the memories." Congrats on BOTD!