Sabino Augusto Montanaro

Sabino Augusto Montanaro Ciarleti (30 July 1922 – 10 September 2011) was a Paraguayan politician. He served as Minister of the Interior between 1966 and 1989 in Alfredo Stroessner's government. Montanaro was also the first Vice President of the Partido Colorado.

Political life Montanaro was an influential figure during the Stronato, often mentioned as one of the four closest politicians to Alfredo Stroessner (the so-called "Cuatrinomio de Oro"), and was blamed for many human rights violations. He was the Minister of the Interior from 1966 until 1989, when Stroessner's dictatorship was overthrown in a coup d'état. In June 1979, Montanaro ordered the closure of the newspapers Ultima Hora and La Tribuna for a duration of 30 days. Montanaro was once again excommunicated in 1971 by archbishop Ismael Rolón.

Montanaro also mobilised the Colorado peasant militia, known as the Macheteros de Santani, to repress a Partido Liberal Radical Auténtico (PLRA) rally in San Jose in April 1986. This caused fierce resistance from other politicians in the party and led to the eventual coup on February 3rd 1989.

Political asylum After the coup against Stroessner, Montanaro sought asylum in the Honduran consulate in Asunción. A few days later, he appeared in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. and become an evangelical preacher. On 1 May 2009 he returned to Paraguay, stirring street protests. Facing an arrest warrant since 1997 and accused of torture-related crimes, protesters demanded he be jailed in Tacumbú prison. Due to his poor health condition, a judge ordered his detention in a hospital. On 24 June 2009 he was jailed in Tacumbú prison. Following a visit from the country's Supreme Court judge, the court ordered his release from prison but kept him under house arrest.

Death He died in Asunción on 10 September 2011, aged 89, from pulmonary complications.

It later became known that Montanaro's son opened an offshore company through the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca shortly before Montanaro died.