Epifanio Méndez Fleitas

Epifanio Méndez Fleitas (7 April 1917 – 22 November 1985) was a Paraguayan politician, musician, writer and poet, and twice the president of Central Bank of Paraguay: from 1952 to 1954 and in 1955. He fled Paraguay during the Alfredo Stroessner years and was the uncle to future President Fernando Lugo. He died in Buenos Aires.

Early life and career Epifanio Méndez Fleitas was born in San Pedro del Paraná, in the Itapúa Department of Paraguay. He began his studies in his hometown, before relocating to Villarrica where he began his career as a writer by writing his first essays. He began studying law, but he did not conclude his studies because he became involved in political activity: after joining the Colorado Party, he became involved with the government and was appointed first as chief of police of Asunción and, later, as the president of the Central Bank of Paraguay.

In May 1954, Méndez backed Alfredo Stroessner's coup d'état against President Federico Chaves, who had previously fired Méndez from the position of president of the Central Bank. Méndez thus reacquired his previous position at the bank, while also becoming the director of a newspaper, La Unión, which became the most important newspaper aligned with the government.

Epifanio Méndez Fleitas married Fresdesvinda Vall on 6 January. The couple had five children: Teresa, Bernardino, Prudencio, Epifanio, María de la Cruz and José.

In opposition Méndez' fortunes changed when Juan Perón, President of Argentina and a close friend of Méndez, was deposed in September 1955. While initially emigrating to Paraguay, Perón was eventually forced to leave the country by Stroessner, and he relocated to Venezuela. Méndez' closeness to Perón put him in a weakened position within the Paraguayan junta,

In 1973, MOPOCO and Epifanio Méndez Fleitas would separate, since the latter would found a new dissident group, the Asociación Nacional Republicana en el Exilio y la Resistencia (ANRER). In 1978, under pressure from the Argentine government, he was expelled from Uruguay and went to the United States. In June 1984 he was allowed to enter Argentina. He died the following year in Buenos Aires.

Works 1936 - Sueños de adolescente (Poetry) 1939 - Bajo la verde arboleda (Poetry) 1950 - Batallas por la democracia (with Osvaldo Chaves) 1951 - El orden para la libertad 1965 - Diagnosis paraguaya 1971 - Psicología del Colonialismo. Imperialismo yanqui-brasilero en el Paraguay 1973 - Ideologías de dependencia y segunda emancipación 1976 - Lo histórico y lo antihistórico en el Paraguay. Carta a los colorados 1979 - Carta a los liberales 1980 - Carta a un compañero 1983 - Marxismo teórico y utópico. Estructura del neocolonialismo en el Paraguay