The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Selden Resolution, authorizing U.S. troop movements to Paraguay in the event of a Communist threat. Over the next two decades, more than 1,000 Paraguayan troops were trained atU.S. installations.
Pres. Stroessner was reelected for his fourth term. He developed a system of “preventive repression,” by which any opposition, real or imagined, was crushed. Other South American dictators viewed his “culture of fear” as a model for their own repressive activities in the 1970s.
Paraguay and Brazil signed the Treaty of Itaipu, providing for construction of a 12,600-megawatt dam in the border region. Construction took place under police guard and dangerous conditions; the region's population was exploding to over a half million, and peasants in the area were forcibly relocated.
Led by cotton, soybean, and timber exports, the economy grew at an annual rate of 6 percent during the 1970s. Most profits were exported, however, and benefits reached only a few friends of the regime. There was also a boom in smuggling, much of it by government officials.
Paraguay hosted the congress of the World Anti-Communist League, noted for its ultrarightist stance and Fascist overtones. Stroessner made Paraguay a safe haven for ex-Nazis and other exiled right-wing extremists.
Amid rising protests against the regime and a general economic slowdown, Stroessner closed down the country's largest newspaper, ABCColor, which had criticized high-level corruption.
Domingo Laino, leader of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party(PLRA) and recently returned from exile, spoke at an opposition rally attended by 30,000 people. In the following months, political activity increased, leading to an even larger silent march against repression led by Archbishop Ismael Rolón on Oct. 30.
Amid growing internal divisions in the Colorado Party concerning Stroessner's continued rule, Stroessner was reelected in a campaign marked by repression.
