José Timoteo de la Paz Berges Villaalta (c. 1820 – 21 December 1868) was a Paraguayan diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs during the rule of Paraguayan dictator Francisco Solano López and the Paraguayan War.

José Berges
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
29 October 1862 – 14 June 1868
Preceded byDomingo F. Sánchez
Succeeded byGumersindo Benítez
Personal details
Bornc. 1820
Asunción, Paraguay
Died21 December 1868(1868-12-21) (aged 47–48)
San Fernando, Paraguay

Like many prominent Paraguayans, Berges was accused of conspiring against López, arrested, severely tortured (he was "reduced to groveling idiocy") and shot for treason on 21 December 1868 in the San Fernando massacre. There was probably no conspiracy.[1][2]

References

edit
  1. ^ Whigham, Thomas (April 2018). "Court of Blood: Treason and Terror under Paraguay's Francisco Solano López". The Americas. 75 (2). Cambridge University Press: 325–6, 327, 331–3, 337, 339–342, 344, 347. doi:10.1017/tam.2017.85. S2CID 148682451.
  2. ^ Maestrí, Mário (2013). "Tribunais de Sangue de San Fernando: O Sentido Político-Social do Terror Lopizta". História: Debates e Tendências. 13 (1): 124–149. doi:10.5335/hdtv.13n.1.3047.