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General Higinio Morinigo (1897-1983), named president of Paraguay in 1940,
suspended the constitution and ruled as a military dictator... Morinigo remained
in office until ousted by a military coup on June 6, 1948. Paraguay had five
presidents in the next 15 months.
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The hardline guionistas, headed by the fiery left-leaning
nationalist writer and publisher Natalício González, opposed democratic
practices. The moderate democráticos, led by Federico Chaves, favored
free elections and a power-sharing arrangement with the other parties. With Morínigo's
backing, González used the Guión Rojo to cow the moderates and gain his
party's presidential nomination. In the Paraguayan tradition, he ran unopposed
in the long-promised 1948 elections. Suspecting that Morínigo would not
relinquish power to González, a group of Colorado military officers, including
Stroessner, removed Morínigo from office.
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