2 Generals Were Once Firm Allies : Rodriguez Was Seen as a Loyal Follower

Gen. Andres Rodriguez, who seized power from Gen. Alfredo Stroessner in Friday’s coup, had been seen until now as a loyal follower of the strongman president.

A burly 64-year-old cavalry officer, Rodriguez never publicly breathed a word of dissent against Stroessner before moving to topple him.

Diplomatic and political observers link Rodriguez’s strike with an order they said he received from Stroessner to become defense minister, or at least to step down as army commander.

Rodriguez reportedly refused, and there were rumors that Stroessner was about to force him into retirement. That would have removed him from effective ability to act and may have decided the timing of his move to take power.

Rural Background

Rodriguez is a farmer’s son who found his niche in the military, rising to command its most elite unit. After Stroessner, Rodriguez was Paraguay’s second most powerful military officer and had always been counted as one of Stroessner’s closest personal friends.

Rodriguez grew up in the town of San Salvador, 250 miles east of the Asuncion. He left his rural beginnings for a military career, and in 1961, was named commander of the prestigious 1st Army Corps. The 1st Corps, one of three, is the biggest and best equipped in the army, whose overall size numbers about 12,500.

He was also commander of the army’s elite 1st Cavalry Division, and his dual roles gave him personal command of a lion’s share of military firepower.

Residents of this impoverished, landlocked country knew nothing of Rodriguez’s self-proclaimed support for democracy until the coup, when he said he had overthrown Stroessner “in the name of democracy.”

He said he carried out the coup to defend human rights which he said Stroessner had trampled.

Rodriguez is well known in the capital, but the first time many Paraguayans heard of him was Friday morning, when he said in a clipped, commanding voice over the radio that Stroessner was under arrest and he was “taking command of the country from this moment.”