Emily Creigh learned in November 1974 that she would spend the next two years and three months as a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay, a developing Latin American country with quaint customs and "tranquil" people.

In fact, terror reigned in the US-backed banana republic with its "benevolent" dictator, Alfredo Stroessner, who had held the country in a state of siege for twenty years.

Just days after Emily learned of her assignment, Martin Almada, doctor of education and director of a renowned school in Paraguay, became one of the first victims of Operation Condor, the...