Bajo las banderas, el sol

General Alfredo Stroessner, who came to power in a coup in 1954, ruled Paraguay until 1989. Based on archival material found thanks to extensive research both in Paraguay and abroad, this documentary essay reconstructs the 35-year dictatorship chronologically. The spectator sees an extreme cult of personality, spectacular construction projects, state visits (including to Germany), and learns about Operation Condor, the suppression of opposition figures, and the protection afforded to SS doctor Josef Mengele. Instead of a voiceover, the sound design serves as a subtle commentary—as do interventions via montage, slow motion, time-lapse and rewind techniques. A contribution to the politics of memory for a country where the dictatorship is not mentioned in school textbooks —and a reflection on the power of images in politics and society in general.