Higinio Morínigo
Higinio Morínigo Martínez is a Paraguayan military officer and politician who has been serving as President of the Republic of Paraguay since 1940.
In-Game Biography
Order - gives the state its form. Discipline - gives the nation its moral character. Hierarchy - gives the people structure. President Higinio Morínigo, he who has bestowed Paraguay these three virtues, is the man who stands at the top of this hierarchy.
He did not get to this position overnight, first coming to the public's attention after recovering Paraguayan hero Francisco Solano López's remains, leading to him to find favor with President José Félix Estigarribia. When Estigarribia retired, Morínigo was appointed as a seat warmer for the Presidency by the Liberal Party. For most other people, this would be where their story would end.
However, such a great man was intended for so much more, betraying the oligarchs by seizing absolute power, and sending them into exile. His race - the oppressed Guarani - had suffered for too long at their hands, and Europe had shown him how to lead them to greatness. His order molded Paraguay anew, creating a thoroughly fascist state, steeled further by the failure of America to overthrow it during the Guaíra Falls invasion.
Yet despite - or because of - these achievements, Morínigo has regressed from a war hero to a bitter old man, lazing on top of his new order. In every corner, he finds only enemies, wretched politicians and generals who have grown fat off his victories. Boxed in, his days seem numbered, dwindling down until his reign is replaced by a self-serving opportunist or worse, leaving him with a final thought:
"Whatever will happen to Paraguay once I'm gone?"
Involvement
By 1962, Higinio Morínigo, hero of the Latin American far-right, is ineligible to run for reelection since the President of Paraguay is constitutionally limited to four terms. While Morínigo wants to amend the constitution, both the National Republican Association's Red Dash and War Front factions oppose this, since they want one of their own to succeed him as president. To retain some influence after leaving office, Morínigo makes a deal with one of these factions, choosing either Juan Natalicio González (from the former) or Victoriano Benítez Vera (from the latter) as his successor, in exchange to be named commander-in-chief of the army by the new government.
To secure his legacy, Morínigo organises the First Latin American Congress of Fascist Youth in Asunción in November 1962. All fascist parties in Latin America as well as Iberia are invited, though the integralists boycott the congress due to their anti-Nazi stance. Morínigo speaks of the need for fascist movements to unite against their common enemies, and to this end announces the creation of the Condor Legion, a volunteer group that will serve to spread fascism across the continent.
If Morínigo chose the War Front, the power transition happens smoothly. If he chose the Red Dash, they attempt to go back on their promises; Morínigo attempts a coup to retain power, but is overthrown by the military, which installs Juan Manuel Frutos Pane as interim president until Natalicio González is officially inaurgurated.