The World - News from March 24, 1988

A former army captain who had been Paraguay’s leading political prisoner sought asylum in the Colombian Embassy residence in Asuncion. Colombian Ambassador Vicente Ramirez Emiliani said a diplomatic note has been sent to the Paraguayan Foreign Ministry advising them that Napoleon Ortigoza has taken refuge in the residence and asked for political asylum. Ortigoza had been under virtual house arrest since Dec. 19, when he was released from an Asuncion prison after serving 25 years for the slaying of an army cadet in an alleged plot against Paraguay’s authoritarian ruler, Gen. Alfredo Stroessner.