“Under the flags, the sun”, by Juanjo Pereira, is built with abundant news archives of the time and testimonies from other researchers
Reminder, just in case: over almost 35 years, General Alfredo Stroessnerhead of the Colorado Party, governed Paraguay proclaiming four slogans like karma: “peace and order, growth and well-being.” The first two were achieved through bloody control of the opponents, the other two were moderately fulfilled for some years and in some sectors.
His was one of the longest dictatorships in Latin America, a record disputed only with the Duvalierthe Somoza and Fidel Castrowho beat them all because he governed from 1959 until 2016, when he died of old age. Stroessner He also died of old age, but in exile, expelled from the country by his own father-in-law, who was another general.
Now, with a title of poetic resonances“Under the flags, the sun”, a young Paraguayan, Juanjo Pereirahas woven this story together using various materials from journalistic companies such as the Associated Press, documentary filmmakers such as Dominic Dubost, and photographers such as Alain Keler, who recorded the Nazi hunter Beate Klarsfeld publicly demanding the extradition of Mengele, to whom Stroessner had given citizenship. She obtained the extradition of Klaus Barbie in Bolivia, but in Paraguay she had no luck (in addition the murderer had already died, but this could only be known many years later).
Pereirawho graduated in Image and Sound Design from the UBA, lets the materials speak for themselves. From “Sucesos Argentinos” with the enthusiastic voice of Carlos D’Agostino reporting on the 1954 coup d’état that elevated Stroessner onwards, there are newsreels in favor (even one where the reporter is sitting in a lower chair and the dictator clumsily reads the answers to a questionnaire already agreed upon) and newsreels against, especially French, local records of parades, public events, tours, a congress of the Colorado Party and speeches (“this is a peaceful revolution unique in the world”).
Also the interview with the priest of a Base Christian Community, defender of the Agrarian Leagues, the impressive construction of the Itaipú dam, the official visit of General Videla, the story of two tortured people, the deduction of a North American report (“this is a paradise for the rich and infamous”), a camera panning the aged faces of those close to the satrap, a birthday video where the most obsequent What we see is the same one who a few days later will betray him, and fragments of “The Night of San Blas”, a short documentary that records not so much the night, but the entire day of partying in the streets, upon learning of the fall of the regime (but not of the Party, which continues to govern to this day).
Last images, the already weak man pretending that he left voluntarily, the raid of the police warehouse where the folders with data on political prisoners and informants were piled up, all together, and the destruction of a statue (but the boots remain on the pedestal, literally and symbolically very firm). A shame that no images have been found of Perón’s official visit in June 1974, from which he returned seriously ill. Let alone an image of the gunship.
For those interested, on YouTube you can see in full “La noche de San Blas”, by JC Maneglia, the same man who years later made the formidable action comedy and black humor “7 boxes” with Tana Schémbori.
“Under the flags, the sun” (Paraguay-Argentina, USA, France, Germany, 2025); Dir.: Juanjo Pereira; doc.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
