Case 108, Legal persecution case in Asunción, Paraguay
Case 108 refers to a series of arrests and torture of men suspected following the mysterious death of radio host Bernardo Aranda in 1959. Police conducted systematic raids near the Barrio Obrero district and published the names of suspected individuals in local newspapers.
During the Stroessner dictatorship, authorities detained 108 men without evidence, using the investigation of Aranda's death as a pretext for systematic persecution. This mass arrest marked one of the regime's harshest attacks on marginalized communities.
The number 108 became a derogatory term in Paraguay for LGBT individuals, reflecting the deep social prejudices of that era. This stigma shaped how society understood sexual orientation for generations afterward.
The events took place in the Barrio Obrero district, leaving marks that remain visible in the urban landscape today. Visitors can explore the neighborhood to understand the locations where this historical episode unfolded.
The death of radio host Bernardo Aranda was never solved, and none of the 108 detained men were ever proven to have connections to the crime. This injustice reveals how arbitrary the arrests were and how they destroyed innocent lives.
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