Ex-Paraguayan dictator Stroessner hospitalised

BRASILIA - The aging former Paraguayan dictator, Alfredo Stroessner, has been hospitalized in the Brazilian capital of Brasilia, where he has been living in exile for the last 17 years, a hospital spokesman has said.

The spokesman could not confirm what was ailing Stroessner, who is 93. But a source close to the Stroessner family said he was in the intensive care unit recovering from a hernia operation.

Stroessner ruled the small South American nation of Paraguay for 35 years until he was toppled by a military coup in 1989. The only Latin American leader that has had a longer tenure in office is Fidel Castro, who has ruled Cuba since 1959.

- REUTERS