Alfredo Stroessner, ex-ruler of Paraguay

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Alfredo Stroessner, the Paraguayan dictator who epitomized an era of authoritarian rule in Latin America, died Wednesday at age 93.

Gen. Stroessner died from complications related to pneumonia after a hernia operation in Brasília, Brazil's capital, where he had lived in near-total isolation since he was forced from power in 1989.

Gen. Stroessner, who seized power in a military coup in 1954 after 27 years of political chaos in the poor, landlocked country, ruled Paraguay for 34 years until he was toppled in another coup.

He was criticized for providing a haven for Nazi war criminals, notably "Angel of Death" Josef Mengele, chief doctor at the Auschwitz death camp who died in the mid-1980s in Brazil.

Gen. Stroessner rigged his re-election every five years and for three decades distinguished himself as one of the most fervent anti-communist leaders in the region. He is blamed for the torture, disappearance and murder of hundreds of Paraguayan dissidents and was a key ally of dictatorships in Chile and Argentina as they tracked down their own dissidents across South America.

Yet he's also credited with modernizing the country of 6.5 million, transforming a stagnating, politically tumultuous country with open sewers and no running water, even in the capital, into a relatively prosperous and modern nation.

His reign saw the construction of hundreds of miles of roads and the completion of the enormous Itaipu dam project, which produces almost all of the country's electricity.

He also built a cult of personality around himself, putting his name on schools, public buildings and the international airport. His portrait decorated the walls of public offices, shops and living rooms, and a huge neon sign in a central plaza of the capital, Asunción, blinked the message: "Stroessner: Peace, Work and Well-being."

Gen. Stroessner's regime was toppled in a 1989 coup led by a former ally, Gen. Andres Rodriguez, although many of the dictator's associates served in successive governments, even after civilian rule returned in 1993. Gen. Stroessner lived out his remaining years in exile in Brazil.

Reuters, McClatchy Newspapers and The Associated Press