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Swenson Center for Social and Behavioral Sciences 101

“Coming Out of the Closet: The Politics of Fear and State Violence Against the Gay Community in the Documentary 108 Cuchillo de palo”.


This research addresses the political and cultural discourses that were created by the Paraguayan military dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner from the 1950s through the 1980s regarding gay males and their treatment in society. Historically, the essay explores the murders of Bernardo Aranda and Mario Luis Palmieri, two cases that played an important role in helping the government develop a culture of fear against homosexual men. Following Giorgi’s Figuras fraternas: cuerpo masculine, homosexualidad y nación we analyze how the representations of the masculine body, based on normative patterns of behavior and sexual identity, are connected to an idea of hyper-masculinity embodied by the military forces in power in this country for more than three decades. Then, using Brian O’Connor’s essay “Adorno on the Destruction of Memory” and Judith Butler’s Frames of War, the article examines the excuses used by the government and many of its citizens for endorsing violence and intolerance against the male gay community.
In order to develop our ideas we used Renate Costa’s 2010 documentary 108 Cuchillo de palo as our framework. We believe Costa’s insightful personal search and filmic techniques provides us with a powerful structure and context for analyzing the treatment of gay citizens in Paraguay during the regime as well as its destructive effects in today’s society.

Key words: homosexuality, Paraguay, dictatorship, 108 Cuchillo de palo, documentary, and Latin American cinema.