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⁴ My thanks to an anonymous reviewer for reminding the author of this caveat. The article was revised with these and other comments in mind.

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¹⁰ The author gratefully acknowledges a second anonymous reviewer who suggested analysing the characteristic totalitarian internationalist posture.

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²¹ Linz, Juan J., ‘Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes’, in Greenstein, Fred and Polsby, Nelson (eds.), Handbook of Political Science, vol. 3 (Reading, Mass., 1975), pp. 260–2Google Scholar. A clear exception is Romanian Nicolae Ceausescu, whose overthrow and execution on 25 December 1989 revealed a palatial life-style. However, Ceausescu's megalomania and prophetic delusions—more than mere greed—prompted his plundering. Also, the Eastern European regimes had totalitarianism imposed upon them. Unlike Castro, Hitler, Mussolini or Mao, Ceausescu or East Germany's Erik Honecker did not achieve supreme power by leading their own revolution, but rather through Soviet-sponsored intra-party competition. See Fischer, Mary Ellen, ‘Idol or Leader? The Origins and Future of the Ceausescu Cult’, in Nelson, Daniel N. (ed.), Romania in the 1980s (Boulder, 1981), pp. 117–41.Google Scholar

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⁵³ The author remembers attention in Asunción riveted on Stroessner's June 1988 speech before the United Nations General Assembly on (of all topics) nuclear disarmament. The speech was carried live via direct satellite feed on both of Paraguay's television networks. It was patently crafted for domestic consumption; being more a nationalistic defence of democracy ‘Paraguayan style’. The cameras remained glued to Stroessner. Later, it was revealed the General Assembly was almost empty of spectators who were boycotting the speech in protest against Stroessner's dictatorship. The speech was a huge success in Asunción.

⁵⁴ For Stroessner's consolidation of power, see Yegros, Leandro Prieto, El Coloradismo Eterno Con Stroessner, tomo 1 (Asunción, 1988).Google Scholar

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⁵⁷ This personal Presidential Escort Regiment fought the motorised Cavalry Divisions headed by General Andrés Rodríguez in the coup of 3 Feb. 1989. Approximately 300 men from both sides died in the fighting.

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⁶¹ General-President Andrés Rodríguez, long a Stroessner intimate before turning on him, is considered by law enforcement authorities to be Paraguay's No. 1 drug trafficker. See The Arizona Daily Star, 5 Feb. 1989. The assassination of deposed Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza was rumoured to be linked to a faction of the officer corps surrounding Rodríguez, for Somoza's parvenu involvement in the military's international cocaine trade. See COHA's Washington Report on the Hemisphere, 30 Sept. 1980. For more on military corruption, see Carlos María, Lezcano G., ‘Lealtad al General-Presidente’, Investigaciones Sociales Educación Comunicación—ISEC, vol. 6 (Asunción, 1986), p. 3.Google Scholar

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