- Title: PARAGUAY: NORMALITY RETURNS TO ASUNCION.
- Date: 6th February 1989
- Summary: 1. GV Troops guarding aircraft on airport tarmac 0.06 2. GV/CU Exterior of Radio NANDUTI (2 shots) 0.11 3. CU Interior of studio, interview with Umberto Bruin 0.19 4. SV/LV Interiors of studio, disc jockey playing record (3 shots) 0.29 5. CU Exterior, Domingo Laino, opposition leader, speaking (Spanish SOT) 0.38 6. GV Street scene in front of cathedral (English SOT) 0.41 7. GV Exterior, interior of cathedral, mass in progress (5 shots) 1.00 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 21st February 1989 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ASUNCION, PARAGUAY
- Country: Paraguay
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA8O3MJS1VX6YE39FDQSYPLSGC4
- Story Text: ASUNCION, PARAGUAY
The Brazilian Embassy in Asuncion, Paraguay, announced on Sunday that its government had agreed to accept the former Paraguayan dictator, Gen. Alfredo Stroessner, toppled by General Andres Rodriguez in a bloody military coup on Thursday.
Stroessner, 76, and in failing health, had initially sought asylum in Chile and in the United States, but neither country was prepared to permit his entry. According to Brazilian Embassy spokesman Pedro Rodriguez, Stroessner was expected to fly with his wife to Brazil, where he owns several houses in the southern state of Santa Catarina. A Paraguayan airliner was standing by at Asuncion's Gen. Stroessner Airport to Cake the ousted dictator into exile.
In Asuncion, Radio Nanduti, long an opposition thorn in Stroessner's side, broadcast reactions to the coup by its director Umberto Bruin. Opposition Radical Party chief Domingo Laino, formerly exiled to Argentina and allowed to return a few months ago, told journalists that, although he did not agree with the method of the sudden change, the end result was very welcome.
The newspaper ABC, closed by the Stroessner regime for its criticism of the government, was expected to re-open shortly.
Speaking for the country's Roman Catholic Church, for years in sharp disagreement with the regime, Archbishop Ismael Rolon said that "the dawn brings hope after a night of nightmares".
It was announced by Gen. Rodriguez in Asuncion on Sunday afternoon that nationwide elections would be called within ninety days, keeping with his pledge to restore human rights and democracy to the country.
Late on Sunday the Paraguayan aircraft carrying Gen. Stroessner and his wife into exile left Asuncion for Brazil. According to Radio Caritas in Asuncion, the ousted dictator'S Boeing 707 was headed for the coastal city of Guaratuba, in the state of Parana.
<strong>Source: REUTERS - HECTOR LOPEZ</strong> - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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