Carlos Filizzola

Carlos Alberto Filizzola Pallarés (born 24 July 1959) is a Paraguayan physician, labor unionist and politician who served as mayor of Asunción from 1991 to 1996, being the first one to be democratically elected.

Carlos Alberto FIlizzola Pallarés was born in Asunción, on 24 July 1959, to Francisco Filizzola and Alba Pallarés.

From his father's side he is of Italian ancestry.

His cousin, Rafael Filizzola, is also a politician.

His most controversial work, which is remembered to this day, was the renovation of Democracy Square, a large public space located in downtown Asunción, built in the 1960s.

The renovation saw the removal of most of its vegetation and the large fountain that sat in the middle.

He attended the private Ghoette School, where he was elected president of the student council in 1977.

In 1980, Francisco Filizzola received around ten thousand acres of public land from Alfredo Stroessner.

Carlos, who opposed the dictatorship, opted to give back the lands after inheriting them.

Filizzola had two sons with his first wife and later a daughter with his domestic partner, the model Paola Colmán.

In the late 1980s Filizzola opposed the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner as a union leader.

There he also served as president of the student council, from 1984 to 1985, as well as president of the medical students union, from 1982 to 1984.

From these positions he actively opposed the dictatorship, that had by then entered a phase of steep decline.

He is a medical doctor, having graduated from the Universidad Nacional de Asunción in 1985.

Born into a wealthy family with links to Alfredo Stroessner, Filizzola came to oppose the dictatorship, first as a student leader and later through unions, organizing protests such as the Clinicazo of 1986.

A self-described socialist, Filizzola was one of the main faces of the Paraguayan left during his political career.

He served as president of the Medics Association of the Hospital de Clínicas from 1986 to 1988.

From this position he led the Clinicazo, a large protest against the increasingly weak regime.

After the fall of Stroessner, Filizzola served as Assistant Secretary General of the Central Unitaria de Trabajadores from its creation in 1989 until his election as mayor in 1991.

Up until 1990, all mayors of all cities in Paraguay were appointed by the president.

The first municipal elections in Paraguayan history were held on 26 May 1991, resulting in the election of Carlos FIlizzola, of the Asunción for Everyone Movement, elected mayor of Asunción, the nation's capital.

He won 34% of the vote, beating the colorado Juan Manuel Morales (27%), the liberal Félix "Pon" Bogado Gondra (20%) and the febrerista Euclides Acevedo (10%).

Filizzola became the first democratically elected mayor of Asunción, as well as the first leftist one.

One of Filizzola's first deeds as mayor was to order the removal of the statue of Alfredo Stroessner situated in the monument atop Lambaré Hill.

Filizzola argued that the statue was illegal, since according to Law 2719/90 the Government could not erect monuments of living people (at the time Stroessner was alive, exiled in Brasilia).

The toppling was difficult, since the statue was large and heavy.

This eventually attracted a lot of news reporters and onlookers, which then attracted Stroessner supporters, opposed to the toppling.

Eventually the commotion led to President Andrés Rodríguez, who couped Stroessner, calling Filizzola to pause the removal and discuss the matter with him.

In the morning of 8 October, Filizzola gave a press conference outside the Palacio de López, communicating that the president approved of the removal, and that he apologized for interrupting it.

Later that day the statue was cut off at foot level, tied by the neck and brought down with a crane.

Several people climbed on top of the statue, which was lying on the floor, to dance and celebrate.

The statue was given to artist Carlos Colombino, who used it to make a sculpture in honor of the victims of the dictatorship, which was inaugurated in 1995 and is currently in the Park of the Disappeared.

Cultural centers were inaugurated, such as the Manzana de la Rivera and the Paraguayan-Japanese Cultural Center.

He implemented the use of concrete for road paving, seeking to improve the quality and durability of the streets.

Among his works are also the Franja Costera for the zones of Asunción prone to flooding and the Environmental Development Plan of Asunción.

This was made in order to build a parking lot, which was meant to solve the city's problems related to parking, it didn't. The renovation was unveiled on 21 April 1995 in a ceremony led by Filizzola and President Juan Carlos Wasmosy, who praised it.

He was president of the National Encounter Party from 1996 to 1999, a big tent party where he had his own leftist faction.

In 2000 that faction broke off, founding Filizzola's very own Party for a Country of Solidarity.

He later served four terms as senator, from 2003 to 2011 and again from 2012 to 2023, having been appointed Minister of the Interior in the meantime, under the presidency of Fernando Lugo.

He was also the President of the Senate from 2005 to 2006 and the running mate of Domingo Laíno in the 1998 presidential election.