PARAGUAY: GENERAL ANDRES RODRIGUEZ CLAIMS LANDSLIDE ELECTION VICTORY ALTHOUGH ALLEGATIONS OF POLLING IRREGULARITIES ABOUND.

Record ID: 372261

  • Title: PARAGUAY: GENERAL ANDRES RODRIGUEZ CLAIMS LANDSLIDE ELECTION VICTORY ALTHOUGH ALLEGATIONS OF POLLING IRREGULARITIES ABOUND.
  • Date: 2nd May 1989
  • Summary: ASUNCION, PARAGUAY (MAY 1, 1989) 1. SVS AND CUS BALLOTS BEING COUNTED. (5 SHOTS) 0.14 2. GV AND SVS AUTHENTIC RADICAL LIBERAL PARTY MEMBERS DEMONSTRATING IN STREETS AFTER ACCUSING THE RULING PARTY OF FRAUD. (6 SHOTS) 0.44 3. GV PAN MEMBERS OF THE COLORADO PARTY CELEBRATING IN THE STREETS. 0.54 4. GVS AND SV JUAN RAMON CHAVEZ, PRESIDENT OF THE COLORADO PARTY, ANNOUN
  • Embargoed: 17th May 1989 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ASUNCION, PARAGUAY
  • Country: Paraguay
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVABKI582L7MR1VDFVO3PW31433D
  • Story Text: ASUNCION, PARAGUAY

    General Andres Rodriguez claimed a landslide victory in the Presidential elections in Asuncion, Paraguay, on Monday. But allegations of polling irregularities abounded.

    With half the votes in Monday's elections counted, computer projections gave Rodriguez, the acting president, 74 per cent and Domingo Laino of the leftist Authentic Radical Liberal Party 20 per cent.

    Rodriguez turned into a popular hero on February 3 when he led a bloody military coup that ended the 34-year rule of General Alfredo Stroessner, his long-time mentor.

    Stroessner, Latin America's longest-serving dictator, went into exile in Brazil.

    Opinion polls had predicted an easy win for Rodriguez in what Paraguayan historians described as the first free vote in the country's history. Rodriguez promised a "clean, crystal clear and true" ballot.

    But throughout the day, opposition officials and independent witnesses reported that partisans of the ruling Colorado Party, which switched its loyalty to Rodriguez after the coup, were reverting to the methods they used to ensure Stroessner's victory in eight elections.

    <strong>Source: REUTERS - HECTOR LOPEZ</strong>
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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