Observers sharply disagree about Solano López. George…

Observers sharply disagree about Solano López.

George Thompson, an English engineer who works for the younger López (he distinguishes himself as a Paraguayan officer during the War of the Triple Alliance, and later writes a book about his experience) has harsh words for his ex-employer and commander, calling him "a monster without parallel."

Solano López's conduct lays him open to such charges.

In the first place, Solano López's miscalculations and ambitions plunge Paraguay into a war with Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay.

The war results in the deaths of half of Paraguay's population and almost erases the country from the map.

During the war, Solano López orders the executions of his own brothers and has his mother and sisters tortured when he suspects them of opposition.

Thousands of others, including Paraguay's bravest soldiers and generals, also go to their deaths before firing squads or are hacked to pieces on Solano López's orders.

Others see Solano López as a paranoid megalomaniac, a man who wants to be the "Napoleon of South America," willing to reduce his country to ruin and his countrymen to beggars in his vain quest for glory.