The Crackdown

The Confederacion Paraguaya de Trabajadores called the first national General Strike in the country's history, demanding political liberties like the lifting of a state of emergency by the dictatorial government, and economic reforms including a 30% wage increase. The country was virtually shut down, and after the strike committees rejected President Alfredo Stroessner's nominal offers of a 15% wage increase, police were sent in to repress the strikers. Union and Communist leaders were imprisoned, disappeared or exiled to Argentina, many for the next two decades.