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 .