Paraguayans Elect President in Vote That Evoked Dictatorship Era

[Judi Lynn]

By SANTI CARNERI and ERNESTO LONDOÑO
APRIL 22, 2018

ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay — Paraguay’s ruling Colorado Party won Sunday’s presidential election as Mario Abdo Benítez, a conservative former senator, defeated his rival, Efraín Alegre, a former lawmaker from a center-left coalition.

Mr. Abdo Benítez’s presidential bid evoked memories of Paraguay’s dictatorship from 1954 to 1989 because his father was the personal secretary of Alfredo Stroessner, the despotic military leader who ruled the small South American nation during those years.

. . .

The dictatorship is an abstract idea for many voters in this country of nearly 7 million people, where the median age is 25. But the candidacy of Mr. Abdo Benítez clearly rattled young liberals.

On Friday night, at a concert featuring psychedelic cumbia and feminist reggaeton at a colonial house in Asunción, Pedro Lezcano, a percussionist, grabbed the microphone and said, “If your folks are Colorados, hide their cédulas,” a reference to the national identity cards required for voting. Attendants clapped and started yelling, “Dictatorship never again!”

More:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/22/world/americas/paraguay-election-mario-abdo-benitez.html

[GatoGordo]

1. Dictators don't get elected

Mario Abdo Benítez's father wasn't a dictator. He was a low level bureaucrat.

I think its a safe bet that Paraguayans see what is going on with the Marxist/Leninist movement on their continent (Venezuela with Chavismo, Lula, Dilma, Kirchner, Correa, etc.) and are satisfied with the prospect of NOT embracing that extremist paradigm.