asked in 2005

1. Based on what allegations did the government detain and torture you?

I was accused of being an intellectual terrorist: a) for having promoted democracy in the class rooms of the primary school where I was headmaster, b) for having supported the teachers’ cooperative and c) for having defended a doctoral thesis at the National University of la Plata in Argentina in 1974. I made a criticism in the thesis of the educational system that the military government had imposed.


2. What relation is there between your human rights work and your environmental work, especially for the promotion of solar energy?

I’m the president of the Celestina Pérez de Almada Foundation (1990-2005). Our work is concentrated in two fields: a) protection of human rights and b) protection of the environment. We work with the idea that protecting the ecosystem is a way of defending the human rights.  


3. How did international support help you?

In 1989 I presented the criminal charges against the dictator and his accomplices. In 1992 I discovered the archives of the secret police. These two acts triggered a response from the dictator’s followers, but fortunately the international press had already found out about my work.


4. How did you discover the archives of the secret police which contain the archives of the Operation Condor?

It was the result of a seventeen years long investigation (1974-1992) in Asunción. A great deal of information was taken from the Police Review of Paraguay. In 1992 I made use of the judicial resources of Habeas Data in order to find out what the accusations of intellectual terrorist were based on.


5. What effect has the Right Livelihood Award had on your work?

The Right Livelihood Award has been VERY important in my life. The award represented a strong moral support. For example, the death threats that we were receiving by phone stopped. Furthermore, since the award I receive much more support and recognition from the diplomatic corps.