Protest Rally Broken Up on Eve of Paraguay Vote

Police used electric prods to break up thousands of opposition supporters demanding “free elections” Saturday, the eve of an election that government leaders said President Alfredo Stroessner will win by a landslide.

“We are sure the number of votes cast . . . for President Stroessner and Colorado Party candidates will not be less than 80% of the total,” said Sabino Augusto Montanaro, interior minister and president of the ruling Colorado Party, during a news conference Saturday.

Stroessner, a 75-year-old army general, has governed since 1954, longer than any other head of state in the Western Hemisphere.

Police used electric anti-riot prods and tear gas to break up a rally of 5,000 anti-government demonstrators in front of the National Pantheon, which contains the remains of the country’s heroes.

The Roman Catholic Radio Caritas said the demonstrators included Domingo Laino, president of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party--which is not recognized by the government. In a brief speech, Laino described the elections as “a new farce and new fraud.”

“But the people want freedom and we will continue making demands in spite of the regime’s savage bullies,” said Laino, who was under house arrest for two days last week.

The radio said no one was arrested, although protesters several suffered slight injuries.

The government’s vote total predictions for Stroessner contradicted a poll by the National Catholic University and West Germany’s Friedrich Naumann Foundation of 18,000 urban voters.

The poll indicated 43% favor Colorado candidates, 31% said they will abstain from voting and 11.6% plan to cast a blank vote. Balloting is required by law among Paraguayans aged 18 to 60.

About 1.4 million of the country’s 3.7 million people are registered for the election. Voters are to choose a president, 36 senators and 72 deputies who form the two-house Congress.