Juan Natalicio González Paredes (8 September 1897 – 6 December 1966) was a Paraguayan poet who served as President of Paraguay from 15 August 1948 to 30 January 1949. Early life Natalicio González was born in Villarrica in the department of Guairá. Having lost his parents, he moved to Asunción, Paraguay's capital, in 1912 to finish his high school studies. He graduated in 1915 from the Colegio Nacional de Asunción (Asunción's National College), and planned to study medicine in the Universidad Nacional de Asunción (Asunción's National University). However, that same year the government shut down the UNA's medical school. Meanwhile, Natalicio started developing a career as journalist and writer, and became affiliated with the Colorado Party. He had no further formal education, but he achieved an outstanding intellectual level through a very disciplined self-education. In 1928 he married Lydia Frutos, a well-known Paraguayan socialite. Lydia was famous for her beauty and also for her high intellectual level, having graduated from educational institutions abroad. Politician and writer Natalicio was associated with some of the intellectuals of the Colorado Party. His links with people like Juan O'Leary, Fulgencio R. Moreno and Antolín Irala—among others—made possible for him to achieve prominence in the party's organization and propaganda machinery. Very soon he became the main writer for some newspapers linked to the Colorado Party, like Patria, Colorado, and El País. During this time he published some books of poetry, political commentary, and historical essays. In 1920 he moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he worked for a major publishing company. His duties allowed him to travel all over South America and meet politicians, writers, and intellectuals from different South American countries. In 1923 he moved to Paris, to work with a Paraguayan publishing company. He spent two years in Europe, returning to Paraguay at the end of 1924. After he returned to Asunción, he became more active in the Colorado Party. He reached higher positions in the Party's organization and, by 1926, he was one of the leading party members who negotiatiated for a new electoral law with the ruling Liberals. Unfortunately for the Colorados, the negotiations with the Liberal government became a source of division within the Colorado Party. The abstencionistas were reluctant to negotiate anything with the government; they supported abstention from voting to channel popular discontent against the government and bring about a non-violent revolution. The eleccionistas responded positively to the