WHATS THE HISTORY LIKE?
Paraguay had 3 dictators govern in the first 60 years of independence. The third dictator, Francisco Lopez, declared war against Uruguay, Brazil, and Argentina, which ended up with half of the male population killed. Luckily, a new constitution was introduced in 1870 which was supposed to prevent dictatorships from entering Paraguay, but it failed to do so until 1912 when the country regained political and economic stability again. Unfortunately, the stability didn’ t last long because World War II happened and politics became unstable. Alfredo Stroessner dictated from 1954 to 1989 during which he was accused of murder and torture, but fully supported by the United States. Stroessner was overthrown by army leader Andres Rodriguez in 1989. Paraguay ' s new constitution went into effect in 1992. In 1993, Juan Carlos Wasmosy, won a five-year term. Raúl Cubas Grau won the election in May 1998 but was removed from office because he was involved in the assassination of the vice president. Luis Ángel González Macchi, who was president after Cubas stepped down, was accused of mishandling $ 16 million in state funds, and in 2006 he was sentenced to six years in prison.