Alfredo Stroessner Matiauda was a Paraguayan military officer who served as President of Paraguay from 1954 to 1989. He ascended to the position after leading an army coup in 1954. His 35-year-long rule is the longest in modern South American history. Stroessner's rule is ranked 20th-longest among other non-royal national leaders since 1870, and made him one of the world's longest-serving non-royal heads of state. In 1954, he ousted Federico Chávez, becoming president after winning an election in which he was the sole candidate. An arch anti-communist, Stroessner had the backing of the United States for most of his time in power. The constitution was modified in 1967 and 1977 after his six consecutive elections to the presidency. In 1988, he won an unprecedented eighth term on a majority, according to official figures, of between 90 and 98 percent of the registered vote. Stroessner provided refuge for Argentina's Juan Perón and Nicaragua's Anastasio Somoza Debayle. Stroessner was ousted from power in 1989 in a military coup led by General Andrés Rodríguez and forced into exile in Brazil, where he spent the last 17 years of his life. Following a bout of pneumonia, he tried to return to his homeland to die, but was rejected by the government. He died in Brasília on August 16, 2006, of complications from a hernia operation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfredo_Stroessner