Unwanted Revolution

Revolutionary guns last week broke the five-year rule of Paraguay's aging (71) President Federico Chaves. The little (pop. 1,500,000), landlocked republic is totally dominated by the government's Colorado party, and Chaves, as party boss, had been tightrope walking his way through trouble since last December, when he ordered a rough shake-up of the cabinet. His foot finally slipped when he arrested an army major as a plotter. General Alfredo Stroessner, 41, the army's 6-ft., German-descended commander, angrily called for a showdown, and an unplanned, unwanted revolution was on.

The crack, cavalry division stationed outside Asuncion, the capital, at first sided with Chaves, but Stroessner energetically lined up the rest of the armed forces. Chaves was taken prisoner, and the decisive action took place the following day. Cavalry units tried to enter the city and were beaten off by machine-gun fire; 25 to 30 died; some 100 were wounded.

Next day Chaves, turned loose, went home and resigned. A temporary provisional President was named, but Stroessner emerged as the dominant new figure; reports from Asuncion said that presidential elections' would be held in two months, and the general would be the only candidate. A dashing, blond-mustached artilleryman who is popular with his troops, Stroessner visited the U.S. last June as the guest of the Army. One result of his revolution was postponement of this week's scheduled good-will visit to Asuncion by Argentina's President Juan Peron.

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