In a preelection interview with the Los Angeles Times, Lugo noted Washington’s sometimes-contradictory role in Latin America — and especially in Paraguay.Gen. Alfredo Stroessner, who ran the country with an iron fist for 35 years, was a U.S. Cold War ally before his government’s abysmal human rights record soured ties with Washington and he was ousted in 1989. His Colorado Party held power for more than 60 years before Lugo’s victory.
“The United States . . . has sustained the great dictatorships, but afterward lifted the banner of democracy,” Lugo noted.
However, he said, Washington must acknowledge a new scenario in which Latin American governments “won’t accept any type of intervention from any country, no matter how big it is.”
