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Sabino Augusto Montanaro

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Montanaro and the second or maternal family name is Ciarleti.
Sabino Augusto Montanaro
Minister of the Interior
In office
1966–1989
PresidentAlfredo Stroessner
Preceded byEdgar Ynsfrán
Succeeded byOrlando Machuca Vargas
Personal details
Born30 July 1922
Died10 September 2011 (aged 89)
Asunción, Paraguay

Sabino Augusto Montanaro Ciarleti (30 July 1922 – 10 September 2011) was a Paraguayan politician. He served as Minister of the Interior between 1966 and 1989 in Alfredo Stroessner's government. Montanaro was also the first Vice President of the Partido Colorado.

Political life

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Montanaro was an influential figure during the El Stronato,[1] often mentioned as one of the four closest politicians to Alfredo Stroessner (the so-called "Cuatrinomio de Oro"), and was blamed for many human rights violations.[1][2] He was the Minister of the Interior from 1966 until 1989, when Stroessner's dictatorship was overthrown in a coup d'état.[3]

Minister of the Interior

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During his tenure as Minister of the Interior, freedom of the press in Paraguay was severely limited. Several newspapers and radio stations, such as ABC Color and Radio Ñandutí, faced restrictions and bans.[4] In June 1979, Montanaro ordered the closure of the newspapers Ultima Hora and La Tribuna for a duration of 30 days.[4]

The Catholic Church had begun distancing itself from the Stroessner regime since the 1960s. In 1969, the police invaded the Parroquia Cristo Rey in Asunción to arrest radical Jesuits and physically abuse elderly clergy. Following the incident, the Archbishop of Asunción, Juan José Aníbal Mena Porta excommunicated Montanaro. However, the church's Conferencia Episcopal Paraguaya avoided vocal criticism of the regime during the 1970s.[5] Montanaro was once again excommunicated in 1971 by archbishop Ismael Rolón.[6]

Montanaro also mobilised the Colorado peasant militia, known as the Macheteros de Santani, to repress a Partido Liberal Radical Auténtico (PLRA) rally in San Jose in April 1986.[5] In 1987, he and other loyalists of Stroessner took an even stronger grip over the Partido Colorado and the governmental institutions of Paraguay.[7] This caused fierce resistance from other politicians in the party and led to the eventual coup on February 3rd 1989.[8]

Political Asylum

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After the coup against Stroessner, Montanaro sought asylum in the Honduran consulate in Asunción.[3] A few days later, he appeared in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras.[3] In Honduras, he was compelled to abandon the Catholic faith[9] and become an evangelical preacher.[1] During his asylum in Honduras, Paraguay demanded his extradition on two occasions.[10] On 1 May 2009 he returned to Paraguay, stirring street protests.[11] Facing an arrest warrant since 1997 and accused of torture-related crimes, protesters demanded he be jailed in Tacumbú prison.[12] Due to his poor health condition, a judge ordered his detention in a hospital.[13] On 24 June 2009 he was jailed in Tacumbú prison. Following a visit from the country's Supreme Court judge, the court ordered his release from prison but kept him under house arrest.[13][14]

Death

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He died in Asunción on 10 September 2011, aged 89, from undisclosed causes.[15][16]

It later became known that Montanaro's son opened an offshore company through the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca shortly before Montanaro died.[17]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Día del reportero gráfico: la última foto a Sabino Augusto Montanaro". www.lanacion.com.py (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-01-08.
  2. ^ "Abdo padre integró Cuatrinomio de Oro". ultimahora.com (in European Spanish). 2 August 2020. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
  3. ^ a b c Servin, Pedro (2009-05-05). "Lugo: Dictatorship-era aide must tell of bodies". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
  4. ^ a b "Paraguay 1987 - Chapter V". www.cidh.org. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
  5. ^ a b Nickson, R. Andrew (1988). "Tyranny and Longevity: Stroessner's Paraguay". Third World Quarterly. 10 (1): 237–259. ISSN 0143-6597.
  6. ^ David Kohut, Olga Vilella: Historical Dictionary of the "Dirty Wars". Scarecrow Press, Lanham, 2nd, expanded ed. 2010. ISBN 978-0-8108-5839-8. p. 235.
  7. ^ Smith, James F. (4 February 1989). "Military Coup Topples Paraguay's Stroessner : Incoming President Promises Democracy, Respect for Rights". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  8. ^ "Abdo padre integró Cuatrinomio de Oro". Ultima Hora (in European Spanish). 2 August 2020. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
  9. ^ "Familia de temido ministro creó offshore - Secretos en paraísos fiscales - ABC Color". www.abc.com.py (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-01-08.
  10. ^ "Paraguay: Sabino Montanaro debe responder a la Justicia". Amnesty International (in Spanish). 2009-05-08. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
  11. ^ Regresa a Paraguay Sabino Augusto Montanaro Archived 2009-05-07 at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ^ "Sabino Augusto Montanaro regresa al Paraguay luego de 20 años". ultimahora.com (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2022-01-08.
  13. ^ a b "Ex represor cumple arresto - - ABC Color". www.abc.com.py (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-01-08.
  14. ^ "Ministra Pucheta visitó a Montanaro en la cárcel de Tacumbú en el marco del habeas corpus presentado por su esposa". Poder Judicial (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-01-08.
  15. ^ Forbes.com[dead link‍]
  16. ^ "Sabino Montanaro Obituary (2011) - Asunción, IL". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  17. ^ "Montanaro tras "Monet"". ABC Color (in Spanish). 21 June 2018. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
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