Editing Paraguay (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Paraguay}}

===Pre-colonial era===
The indigenous [[Guaraní people|Guaraní]] had been living in eastern Paraguay for at least a millennium before the arrival of the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Guarani Society |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060925035916/http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/EthnoAtlas/Hmar/Cult_dir/Culture.7843 |access-date=2025-05-17 |website=web.archive.org}}</ref> Western Paraguay, the [[Gran Chaco]], was inhabited by nomads of whom the [[Guaycuru peoples|Guaycuru]] peoples were the most prominent. The Paraguay River was roughly the dividing line between the agricultural Guarani people to the east and the nomadic and seminomadic people to the west in the Gran Chaco. The Guarcuru nomads were known for their warrior traditions and were not fully pacified until the late 19th century.<ref>The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Mbayá". Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 Feb. 2007, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mbaya. Accessed 17 May 2025</ref> These indigenous tribes belonged to five distinct language families, which were the bases of their major divisions.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Barba |first=Paula López |date=2023-08-25 |title=El guaraní paraguayo, la lengua de la resistencia |url=https://elpais.com/america-futura/2023-08-25/el-guarani-paraguayo-la-lengua-de-la-resistencia.html |access-date=2025-05-17 |website=El País América |language=es}}</ref><ref name=":2">Miller, Mark D.H., Webb, Kempton E., Martin, Gene E.. "Gran Chaco". Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 May. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/place/Gran-Chaco. Accessed 17 May 2025</ref> Differing language speaking groups were generally competitive over resources and territories. They were further divided into tribes by speaking languages in branches of these families. Today 17 separate [[Ethnolinguistics|ethnolinguistic]] groups remain.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

===Colonial era===
The first Europeans in the area were Spanish explorers in 1516.<ref name=eec>{{cite report |author=Sacks, Richard S. |section=Early explorers and conquistadors |editor1-last=Hanratty |editor1-first=Dannin M. |editor2-last=Meditz |editor2-first=Sandra W. |year=1988 |title=Paraguay: A country study |location=Washington, DC |publisher=U.S. [[Library of Congress]] / [[Government Printing Office|GPO]] |url=http://countrystudies.us/paraguay/2.htm |url-status=live |access-date=19 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919163833/http://countrystudies.us/paraguay/2.htm |archive-date=19 September 2011}}</ref> The Spanish explorer [[Juan de Salazar de Espinosa]] founded the settlement of [[Asunción]] on 15 August 1537. The city eventually became the center of a [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spanish colonial province of Paraguay]].

An attempt to create an autonomous Christian Indian nation<ref name="cite wdl|#2581">{{cite web |title=Paraguariae Provinciae Soc. Jesu cum Adiacentibg. Novissima Descriptio |language=la |trans-title=A Current Description of the Province of the Society of Jesus in Paraguay with Neighboring Areas |year=1732 |via=[[World Digital Library]] |url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/2581/ |access-date=8 September 2015 |archive-date=28 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428011358/http://www.wdl.org/en/item/2581/ |url-status=live }}</ref> was undertaken by [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] missions and settlements in this part of South America in the eighteenth century. They developed Jesuit [[reductions]] to bring Guarani populations together at Spanish missions and protect them from virtual slavery by Spanish settlers and Portuguese slave raiders, the ''[[bandeirantes]]'', in addition to seeking their conversion to Christianity. Catholicism in Paraguay was influenced by the indigenous peoples: The [[syncretic]] religion has absorbed native elements. The ''reducciones'' flourished in eastern Paraguay for about 150&nbsp;years, until the expulsion of the Jesuits by the Spanish Crown in 1767.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ganson |first=Barbara Anne |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Guaran%C3%AD_under_Spanish_Rule_in_the_R/CG7fscxlgpUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=isbn:9780804754958&printsec=frontcover |title=The Guaraní under Spanish Rule in the Río de la Plata |date=2003 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-5495-8 |language=en}}</ref> The ruins of two 18th&nbsp;century [[Jesuit Missions of La Santísima Trinidad de Paraná and Jesús de Tavarangue]] have been designated as [[World Heritage Sites]] by [[UNESCO]].<ref name="cite wdl |#2581"/>

In western Paraguay, Spanish settlement and Christianity were strongly resisted by the nomadic [[Guaycuru peoples|Guaycuru]] and other nomads from the 16th century onward. Most of these peoples were absorbed into the [[mestizo]] population in the 18th and 19th centuries.

===Independence and rule of Francia===
{{main|Independence of Paraguay}}
[[File:José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia.jpg|left|thumb|upright|[[José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia]], Paraguay's first dictator]]
Paraguay overthrew the local Spanish administration on 14&nbsp;May 1811. Paraguay's first dictator was [[José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia]], who ruled Paraguay from 1814 until his death in 1840 with very little outside contact or influence.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Britain and the Paraguayan dictatorship, c. 1820-1840* |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:3b1cd500-6c0f-4b17-8569-5fcd753d00da/files/rx633f1701}}</ref> He intended to create a [[utopia]]n society based on the [[Geneva]]n theorist [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]]'s [[The Social Contract|''Social Contract'']].<ref>{{cite web |title=War of the Triple Alliance |website=War of the Pacific (warofthepacific.com) |url=http://warofthepacific.com/warofthetriplealliance.htm |access-date=14 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140807073919/http://warofthepacific.com/warofthetriplealliance.htm |archive-date=7 August 2014}}</ref> Rodríguez de Francia was nicknamed ''El Supremo''.

Rodríguez de Francia established new laws that greatly reduced the powers of the Catholic church (Catholicism was then an established state religion) and the cabinet, forbade colonial citizens from marrying one another and allowed them to marry only blacks, [[mulattoes]] or natives, in order to break the power of colonial-era elites and to create a [[mixed-race]] or mestizo society.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Romero |first1=Simon |date=12 March 2012 |title=In Paraguay, indigenous language with unique staying power |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/world/americas/in-paraguay-indigenous-language-with-unique-staying-power.html |access-date=5 October 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930235457/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/world/americas/in-paraguay-indigenous-language-with-unique-staying-power.html |archive-date=30 September 2015}}</ref> He cut off relations between Paraguay and the rest of South America. Because of Francia's restrictions of freedom, [[Fulgencio Yegros]] and several other Independence-era leaders in 1820 planned a ''coup d'état'' against Francia, who discovered the plot and had its leaders either executed or imprisoned for life.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Colonial period |department=Paraguay |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Paraguay|url-status=live |access-date=5 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201225183757/https://www.britannica.com/place/Paraguay |archive-date=25 December 2020 }}</ref>

===Rule of the López family===
[[File:1864 Mitchell Map of Brazil, Bolivia and Chili - Geographicus - SouthAmericaSouth-mitchell-1864.jpg|thumbnail|upright=1.25|Political map of the region, 1864]]

After Francia's death in 1840, Paraguay was ruled by various military officers under a new ''[[military junta|junta militar]]'', until [[Carlos Antonio López]] (allegedly Rodríguez de Francia's nephew) came to power in 1841. López modernized Paraguay and opened it to foreign commerce. He signed a [[nonaggression pact]] with Argentina and officially declared independence of Paraguay in 1842. After López's death in 1862, power was transferred to his eldest son, [[Francisco Solano López]].

The regime of the López family was characterized by pervasive and rigid centralism in production and distribution. There was no distinction between the public and the private spheres, and the López family ruled the country as it would a large estate.<ref>{{cite report |title=Carlos Antonio López |date=December 1988 |series=Library of Congress Country Studies |publisher=U.S. [[Library of Congress]] |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+py0019) |access-date=30 December 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816005342/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+py0019%29 |archive-date=16 August 2017}}</ref>

The government exerted control on all exports. The export of [[yerba mate]] and valuable wood products maintained the balance of trade between Paraguay and the outside world.<ref>{{worldhistory |section=1665 |quote=Page 630}}</ref> The Paraguayan government was extremely protectionist, never accepted loans from abroad and levied high [[tariff]]s against imported foreign products. This [[protectionism]] made the society self-sufficient, and it also avoided the debt suffered by Argentina and Brazil. Slavery existed in Paraguay, although not in great numbers, until 1844, when it was legally abolished in the new constitution.<ref name=rbcg1933>{{cite book |last1=Cunninghame Graham |first1=Robert Bontine |year = 1933 |title=Portrait of a Dictator: Francisco Solano López |publisher=William Heinemann Ltd.  |location=London |author1-link=Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham}}</ref>{{rp|39–40}}

[[Francisco Solano López]], the son of Carlos Antonio López, replaced his father as the President-Dictator in 1862, and generally continued the political policies of his father. Both wanted to give an international image of Paraguay as "democratic and republican", but in fact, the ruling family had almost total control of all public life in the country, including church and colleges.<ref name=rbcg1933 />{{rp|41–42}}

Militarily, Carlos Antonio López modernized and expanded industry and the [[Paraguayan Army]] and greatly strengthened the strategic defenses of Paraguay by developing the [[Fortress of Humaitá]].<ref>Robert Cowley, ''The Reader's Encyclopedia to Military History''. New York, New York: Houston Mifflin, 1996. Page 479.</ref> The government hired more than 200 foreign technicians, who installed [[telegraph line]]s and railroads to aid the expanding steel, textile, paper and ink, naval construction, weapons and gunpowder industries. The [[Ybycuí]] foundry, completed in 1850, manufactured cannons, mortars and bullets of all calibers. River warships were built in the shipyards of Asunción. Fortifications were built, especially along the [[Apa River]] and in [[Gran Chaco]].<ref name="Hooker">Hooker, T.D., 2008, The Paraguayan War, Nottingham: Foundry Books, {{ISBN|1901543153}}</ref>{{rp|22}} Following the death of Carlos Antonio López, these projects continued under his son Francisco Solano.

In terms of socio-economic development, the country was dubbed "the most advanced Republic in South America", notably by the British judge and politician [[Robert Phillimore|Sir Robert Phillimore]].<ref>Robert Phillimore (1860), ''A Statement of the Facts of the Controversy Between the Governments of Great Britain and Paraguay'', page 2. William Moore Printing, Washington D.C., USA.</ref>

According to George Thompson, Lieutenant Colonel of Engineers in the Paraguayan Army prior to and during the war, López's government was comparatively a good one for Paraguay:
{{blockquote|Probably in no other country in the world has life and property been so secure as all over Paraguay during his (Antonio Lopez's) reign. Crime was almost unknown, and when committed, immediately detected and punished. The mass of the people was, perhaps, the happiest in existence. They had hardly to do any work to gain a livelihood. Each family had its house or hut in its own ground. They planted, in a few days, enough tobacco, maize and mandioca for their own consumption [...]. Having at every hut a grove of oranges [...] and also a few cows, they were almost throughout the year under little necessity [...]. The higher classes, of course, lived more in the European way...|George Thompson, C.E.<ref>{{cite book |last1 = Thompson | first1=George |year=1869
 |title = The War in Paraguay: With a historical sketch of the country and its people and notes upon the military engineering of the war. |publisher = Longmans and Green Co. |location = London |page=10}}</ref>}}

===Paraguayan War (1864–1870)===
{{main|Paraguayan War|Paraguayan War casualties}}
[[File:FRANCISCO SOLANO LOPEZ (From a Photograph taken in 1859).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Francisco Solano López]]]]
On 12&nbsp;October 1864, despite Paraguayan ultimatums, [[Empire of Brazil|Brazil]] (allied with the Argentine Government under General [[Bartolomé Mitre]] and the rebellious [[Colorado Party (Uruguay)|Uruguayan colorados]] led by Gen. [[Venancio Flores]]) invaded the Republic of Uruguay in order to overthrow the government of that time (which was under the rule of the [[National Party (Uruguay)|Blanco Party]], an ally of López),{{efn|The Blanco Party of Uruguay, hardline right wing and reactionary at those days, was in the Uruguayan Government during the outbreak of the war and were allies of the Paraguayan Government.<ref>{{cite book |first=Luis Alberto |last=de&nbsp;Herrera |year=1927 |title=El Drama del 65 – La Culpa Mitrista |pages=11–33 |publisher=Bareiro y Ramos |location=Montevideo, Uruguay}} — classic book by Blanco leader</ref>}} thus starting the [[Paraguayan War]].{{efn| [[Richard Francis Burton|Burton]], a witness of the conflict, marks this date (12–16 October 1864) as the real beginning of the war. He writes (and it is the most logic account, considering the facts): ''The Brazilian Army invades the [[Banda Oriental]], despite the protestations of President López, who declared that such invasion would be held a "casus belli"''.<ref>{{cite book |first=Richard Francis, Sir |last=Burton |author-link=Richard Francis Burton |year=1870 |title=Letters from the Battlefields of Paraguay |page=76 |publisher=Tinsley Brothers |location=London}}</ref>}}

The Paraguayans, led by the [[Grand marshal|Marshal of the Republic]] [[Francisco Solano López]], retaliated by [[Mato Grosso Campaign|attacking Mato Grosso]] on 15 December 1864 and later declared war against Argentina on 23 March 1865. The Blanco Government was toppled and replaced by a Colorado government under General Venancio Flores on 22 February 1865. Afterward, the [[Argentine Republic]], the [[Empire of Brazil]] and the Republic of Uruguay signed the [[Treaty of the Triple Alliance|Secret Treaty of the Triple Alliance]] against the Paraguayan Government on 1 May 1865.<ref>{{cite book |author=Pomer, León |year=2008 |title=La Guerra del Paraguay: Estado, política y negocios |language=es |pages=240–241 |location=Buenos Aires, Argentina |publisher=Editorial Colihue}}</ref>

On 24 May 1866, the [[Battle of Tuyutí]] led to the loss of 6,000 men when a Paraguayan attack was repelled by the Allies. It was marked as the bloodiest battle in South America during the war.

The Paraguayans put up a ferocious resistance but ultimately lost in 1870 in the [[Battle of Cerro Corá]], where Marshal Solano López refused to surrender and died in action.<ref>{{cite book |author=Hooker, T.D. |year=2008 |title=The Paraguayan War |location=Nottingham, UK |publisher=Foundry Books |pages=105–108 |isbn=978-1901543155}}</ref> The real causes of this war, which remains the bloodiest international conflict in the history of [[The Americas]], are still highly debatable.{{efn|The classical view asserts that Francisco Solano López's expansionist and hegemonic views are the main reason for the outbreak of the conflict. The traditional Paraguayan view, held by the "''lopistas''" (supporters of Solano López in Paraguay and elsewhere), holds that Paraguay acted in self-defense and for the protection of the equilibrium of the Plate Basin. This view is usually contested by the "''anti-lopistas''" (known in Paraguay as "''legionarios''"), who favored the "Triple Alliance". Revisionist views from right and left national populists put a great emphasis on the influence of the British Empire, a view that a majority of historians reject.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}}}

[[File:TuyutiDetail.jpg|thumb|The [[Battle of Tuyutí]], May 1866]]

Paraguay lost 25–33% of its territory to Argentina and Brazil, paid an enormous war debt, and sold large amounts of national properties to stabilize its internal budget. The worst consequence of the war was the catastrophic loss of population. At least 50% of Paraguayans died during the conflict, numbers to which it took many decades for the country to return. Of the disaster suffered by the Paraguayans at the outcome of the war, [[William D. Rubinstein]] wrote:

"The normal estimate is that of a Paraguayan population of somewhere between 450,000 and 900,000, only 220,000 survived the war, of whom only 28,000 were adult males."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rubinsein |first=W.D. |year=2004 |title=Genocide: a history |publisher=Pearson Education |page=94 |isbn=0-582-50601-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nMMAk4VwLLwC |url-status=live |access-date=18 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910110549/https://books.google.com/books?id=nMMAk4VwLLwC |archive-date=10 September 2015}}</ref>

During the pillaging of Asunción in 1869, the [[Imperial Brazilian Army]] packed up and transported the Paraguayan National Archives to [[Rio de Janeiro]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Sanchez Quell |first=Hipólito   |title=Los 50.000 Documentos Paraguayos Llevados al Brasil |publisher=Ediciones Comuneros |location=Asunción, Paraguay |year=2006}}</ref>{{efn|Some of the documents taken by Brasil during the war, were returned to Paraguay in the collection known as "Colección de Río Branco", nowadays in the National Archives of Asunción, Paraguay.}} Brazil's records from the war have remained classified. This has made Paraguayan history in the colonial and early national periods difficult to research and study.<ref name=Weinstein-2007-04>{{cite magazine |last=Weinstein |first=Barbara |title=Let the sunshine in: Government records and national insecurities |url=http://www.historians.org/perspectives/issues/2007/0704/0704pre1.cfm |url-status=live |department=From the President |magazine=[[Perspectives on History]] |publisher=[[American Historical Association]] |edition=online |volume=45 |issue=4 |date=1 April 2007 |access-date=5 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008191444/http://www.historians.org/perspectives/issues/2007/0704/0704pre1.cfm |archive-date=8 October 2012}}</ref>

===20th century===
[[File:Chacokrieg.jpg|thumb|[[Gran Chaco]] was the site of the [[Chaco War]] (1932–35), in which Bolivia lost most of the disputed territory to Paraguay]] 
In 1904 the Liberal revolution against the rule of Colorados broke out. The Liberal rule started a period of great political instability. Between 1904 and 1954 Paraguay had thirty-one [[President of Paraguay|presidents]], most of whom were removed from office by force.<ref>{{cite report |last1=Hanratty |first1=Dannin M. |last2=Meditz |first2=Sandra W. |year=1988 |title=Paraguay: A country study |location=Washington, DC |publisher=U.S. [[Library of Congress]] / [[Government Printing Office|GPO]] |url=http://countrystudies.us/paraguay/2.htm |url-status=live |access-date=19 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919163833/http://countrystudies.us/paraguay/2.htm |archive-date=19 September 2011}}</ref> Conflicts between the factions of the ruling Liberal party led to the [[Paraguayan Civil War (1922)|Paraguayan Civil War of 1922]].

The unresolved border conflict with Bolivia over the Chaco region finally erupted in the early 1930s in the [[Chaco War]]. After both sides suffered great losses, Paraguay defeated Bolivia and established its sovereignty over most of the disputed Chaco region. After the war, military officers used popular dissatisfaction with the Liberal politicians to seize the power for themselves. On 17&nbsp;February 1936, the [[February Revolution (Paraguay)|February Revolution]] brought colonel [[Rafael Franco]] to power. Between 1940 and 1948, the country was ruled by general [[Higinio Morínigo]]. Dissatisfaction with his rule resulted in the [[Paraguayan Civil War (1947)|Paraguayan civil war of 1947]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Paraguay civil war 1947 |website=Onwar.com |url=http://www.onwar.com/aced/nation/pat/paraguay/fparaguay1947.htm |access-date=2 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100103214118/http://onwar.com/aced/nation/pat/paraguay/fparaguay1947.htm |archive-date=3 January 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> In its aftermath [[Alfredo Stroessner]] began involvement in a string of plots, which resulted in his military [[1954 Paraguayan coup d'état|coup d'état of 4&nbsp;May 1954]]. In the aftermath of [[World War II]], Paraguay became a hideout for [[Ratlines (World War II aftermath)|Nazi fugitives]] accused of war crimes.

===Stroessner era, 1954–1989===
{{see also|El Stronato|Operation Condor}}
A series of unstable governments ensued until the establishment in 1954 of the regime of dictator [[Alfredo Stroessner]], who remained in office for more than three decades until 1989. Paraguay was modernized to some extent under Stroessner's regime, although his rule was marked by extensive human rights abuses.<ref>{{cite news |first=Adam |last=Bernstein |date=17 August 2006 |title=Alfredo Stroessner; Paraguayan dictator |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |location=Washington, DC |access-date=2 May 2010 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/16/AR2006081601729.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516121443/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/16/AR2006081601729.html |archive-date=16 May 2011}}</ref>

Stroessner and the ''Colorado'' party ruled the country from 1954 to 1989. The dictator oversaw an era of economic expansion, but also had a poor human rights and environmental record (see "Political History"). Paraguay actively participated in [[Operation Condor]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Dinges |first=John |title=Operation Condor |website=latinamericanstudies.org |publisher=[[Columbia University]] |url=http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/chile/operation-condor.htm |url-status=live |access-date=6 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722031734/http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/chile/operation-condor.htm |archive-date=22 July 2018}}</ref> Torture and death for political opponents was routine. After his overthrow, the ''Colorado'' continued to dominate national politics until 2008.

The splits in the ''Colorado'' Party in the 1980s, and the prevailing conditions – Stroessner's advanced age, the character of the regime, the economic downturn, and [[international isolation]] – were catalysts for anti-regime demonstrations and statements by the opposition prior to the 1988 general elections.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}

''[[Authentic Radical Liberal Party|PLRA]]'' leader [[Domingo Laíno]] served as the focal point of the opposition in the second half of the 1980s. The government's effort to isolate Laíno by exiling him in 1982 had backfired. On his sixth attempt to reenter the country in 1986, Laíno returned with three television crews from the U.S., a former United States ambassador to Paraguay, and a group of Uruguayan and Argentine congressmen. Despite the international contingent, the police violently barred Laíno's return.<ref>{{cite web |title=Paraguay 1987, Chapter 4 |url=http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Paraguay87eng/chap.4.htm |website=[[Inter-American Commission on Human Rights]] (cidh.org) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507100105/http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Paraguay87eng/chap.4.htm |archive-date=7 May 2021}}</ref>

The Stroessner regime relented in April&nbsp;1987, and permitted Laíno to return to Asunción. Laíno took the lead in organizing demonstrations and reducing infighting among the opposition party. The opposition was unable to reach agreement on a common strategy regarding the elections, with some parties advocating abstention, and others calling for blank voting. The parties held numerous 'lightning demonstrations' (''mítines relámpagos''), especially in rural areas. Such demonstrations were gathered and quickly disbanded before the arrival of the [[police]].

In response to the upsurge in opposition activities, Stroessner condemned the Accord for advocating "sabotage of the general elections and disrespect of the law". He used national police and civilian [[vigilantes]] of the ''Colorado'' Party to break up demonstrations. A number of opposition leaders were imprisoned or otherwise harassed. {{ill|Hermes Rafael Saguier|es}}, another key leader of the ''PLRA'', was imprisoned for four months in 1987 on charges of sedition. In early February 1988, police arrested 200&nbsp;people attending a National Coordinating Committee meeting in [[Coronel Oviedo]]. Laíno and several other opposition figures were arrested before dawn on the day of the election, 14&nbsp;February, and held for twelve hours. The government declared Stroessner's reelection with 89% of the vote.<ref>{{cite news |title=Paraguayan wins his eighth term |date=15 February 1988 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/15/world/paraguayan-wins-his-eighth-term.html?scp=3&sq=Paraguay%20february%201988&st=cse |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816064442/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/15/world/paraguayan-wins-his-eighth-term.html?scp=3&sq=Paraguay%20february%201988&st=cse |archive-date=16 August 2017}}</ref>

The opposition attributed the results in part to the virtual Colorado monopoly on the mass media. They noted that 53% of those polled indicated that there was an "uneasiness" in Paraguayan society. 74% believed that the political situation needed changes, including 45% who wanted a substantial or total change. Finally, 31% stated that they planned to abstain from voting in the February elections.{{Citation needed|date=September 2008}}

===Stroessner's overthrow, post-1989===
On 3 February 1989, Stroessner was overthrown in a military coup headed by General [[Andrés Rodríguez (President)|Andrés Rodríguez]]. As president, Rodríguez instituted political, legal, and economic reforms and initiated a ''rapprochement'' with the international community. Reflecting the deep hunger of the rural poor for land, hundreds immediately occupied thousands of acres of unused territories belonging to Stroessner and his associates; by mid-1990, 19,000&nbsp;families occupied {{convert|340000|acres|-3|abbr=on}}. At the time, 2.06&nbsp;million people lived in rural areas, more than half of the 4.1&nbsp;million total population, and most were landless.<ref name="nagel">{{cite journal |author=Nagel, Beverly Y. |year=1999 |title='Unleashing the fury': The cultural discourse of rural violence and land rights in Paraguay |journal=Comparative Studies in Society and History |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=148–181 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/S0010417599001905 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |s2cid=146491025 |url=http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=1921 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016023308/http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=1921 |archive-date=16 October 2015|issn=0010-4175 }}</ref>

The June 1992 constitution established a democratic system of government and dramatically improved protection of fundamental human rights. In May 1993, Colorado Party candidate [[Juan Carlos Wasmosy]] was elected as Paraguay's first civilian president in almost forty years, in what international observers deemed free and fair elections.

With support from the United States, the Organization of American States, and other countries in the region, the Paraguayan people rejected an April 1996 attempt by then Army Chief General [[Lino Oviedo]] to oust President Wasmosy.

Oviedo was nominated as the Colorado candidate for president in the 1998 election. However, when the Supreme Court upheld in April his conviction on charges related to the 1996 coup attempt, he was not allowed to run and was detained in jail. His former running mate, [[Raúl Cubas]], became the Colorado Party's candidate, and was elected in May in elections deemed by international observers to be free and fair. One of Cubas' first acts after taking office in August was to commute Oviedo's sentence and release him. In December 1998, Paraguay's Supreme Court declared these actions unconstitutional. In this tense atmosphere, the murder of Vice President and long-time Oviedo rival [[Luis María Argaña]] on 23 March 1999, led the Chamber of Deputies to impeach Cubas the next day.{{Citation needed|date=March 2010}} On 26 March, eight student anti-government demonstrators were murdered, widely believed to have been carried out by Oviedo supporters. This increased opposition to Cubas, who resigned on 28 March. Senate President [[Luis González Macchi]], a Cubas opponent, was peacefully sworn in as president the same day.

In 2003, [[Nicanor Duarte]] was elected as president.

===Election of Fernando Lugo===
For the 2008 general elections, the Colorado Party was favored in polls. Their candidate was Minister of Education [[Blanca Ovelar]], the first woman to be nominated as a candidate for a major party in Paraguayan history. After sixty years of Colorado rule, voters chose [[Fernando Lugo]], a former Roman Catholic Bishop and not a professional politician in civil government, and a member of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party, Paraguay's largest opposition party. Lugo was an adherent of [[liberation theology]]. Lugo achieved a historic victory in Paraguay's presidential election, defeating the ruling party candidate, and ending 61 years of conservative rule. Lugo won with nearly 41% of the vote, compared to almost 31% for Blanca Ovelar of the Colorado party.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.electstud.2008.10.001|author=Nickson, Andrew|year=2009|title=The general election in Paraguay, April 2008|journal=Journal of Electoral Studies|volume=28|issue=1|pages=145–9}}</ref> Outgoing President [[Nicanor Duarte|Nicanor Duarte Frutos]] hailed the moment as the first time in the history of the nation that a government had transferred power to opposition forces in a constitutional and peaceful fashion.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

Lugo was sworn in on 15 August 2008. The Lugo administration set its two major priorities as the reduction of corruption and economic inequality.<ref name="state.gov">{{cite web |title=Paraguay |website=State.gov |date=15 March 2012 |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1841.htm#econ |url-status=live |access-date=5 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170122194534/https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/1841.htm#econ |archive-date=22 January 2017}}</ref>

[[File:Saludo de Piñera a Cartes (cropped).jpg|thumb|Inauguration of former President [[Horacio Cartes]], 15 August 2013]] 
Political instability following Lugo's election and disputes within his cabinet encouraged some renewal of popular support for the Colorado Party. Reports suggested that the businessman [[Horacio Cartes]] became the new political figure amid disputes. Despite the US [[Drug Enforcement Administration]]'s strong accusations against Cartes related to [[Illegal drug trade|drug trafficking]], he continued to amass followers in the political arena.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

On 14 January 2011, the Colorado Party convention nominated Horacio Cartes as the presidential candidate for the party. However, the party's constitution did not allow it.{{clarify|date=April 2012}}
On 21 June 2012, [[Impeachment of Fernando Lugo|impeachment proceedings against President Lugo]] began in the country's lower house, which was controlled by his opponents. Lugo was given less than twenty-four hours to prepare for the proceedings and only two hours in which to mount a defense.<ref name=Guardian>{{cite news |title=What will Washington do about Fernando Lugo's ouster in Paraguay? |first=Mark |last=Weisbrot |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jun/22/washington-fernando-lugo-ouster-paraguay |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=22 June 2012|access-date=23 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910143002/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jun/22/washington-fernando-lugo-ouster-paraguay |archive-date=10 September 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> Impeachment was quickly approved and the resulting trial in Paraguay's Senate, also controlled by the opposition, ended with the removal of Lugo from office and Vice President Federico Franco assuming the duties of president.<ref name=CNN22>{{cite news |title=Paraguayan Senate removes president |first=Mariano |last=Castillo |url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/22/world/americas/paraguay-president/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=22 June 2012 |access-date=22 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623040625/http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/22/world/americas/paraguay-president/index.html |archive-date=23 June 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> Lugo's rivals blamed him for the deaths of 17&nbsp;people – eight police officers and nine farmers – in armed clashes after police were ambushed by armed peasants when enforcing an eviction order against rural trespassers.<ref>{{cite news |title=Paraguay's president vows to face impeachment effort |first=Daniela |last=Desantis |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-paraguay-lugo-idUSBRE85K13N20120621 |work=[[Reuters]] |edition=US |date=21 June 2012 |access-date=21 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130208094438/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/21/us-paraguay-lugo-idUSBRE85K13N20120621 |archive-date=8 February 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>

On 14 May 2011, Paraguay celebrated its [[Paraguay Bicentennial|bicentenary]] on the 200th anniversary of independence from the Spanish Empire as a sovereign state.

Lugo's supporters gathered outside Congress to protest the decision as a "politically motivated coup d'état".<ref name=CNN22/> Lugo's removal from office on 22&nbsp;June 2012 is considered by [[UNASUR]] and other neighboring countries, especially those currently governed by leftist leaders, as a coup d'état.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unasursg.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=698%3Acomunicado-asuncion-22-de-junio-de-2012&catid=68%3Acomunicados&Itemid=346 |title=COMUNICADO UNASUR Asunción, 22 de Junio de 2012 |language=es |date=22 June 2012 |publisher=UNASUR |access-date=23 June 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120627050748/http://www.unasursg.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=698:comunicado-asuncion-22-de-junio-de-2012&catid=68:comunicados&Itemid=346 |archive-date=27 June 2012}}</ref> However, the Organization of American States, which sent a mission to Paraguay to gather information, concluded that the impeachment process was not a coup d'état, as it had been carried out in accordance with the [[Constitution of Paraguay]].<ref>Halvorssen, Thor, ''[https://www.forbes.com/sites/thorhalvorssen/2012/07/03/paraguay-is-not-honduras/#57bce3c72308 Paraguay is not Honduras: President Lugo's Impeachment was not a Coup] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730203938/https://www.forbes.com/sites/thorhalvorssen/2012/07/03/paraguay-is-not-honduras/#57bce3c72308|date=30 July 2018}}'', Forbes.com, 3 July 2012, retrieved 30 July 2018</ref>

===Present day===
From August 2013 to 15 August 2018, the [[President of Paraguay]] was [[Horacio Cartes]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/22/world/americas/horacio-cartes-wins-paraguays-presidential-election.html|title=Conservative Tobacco Magnate Wins Presidential Race in Paraguay|first=Simon|last=Romero|date=22 April 2013|work=The New York Times|access-date=7 April 2021|archive-date=2 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171102234322/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/22/world/americas/horacio-cartes-wins-paraguays-presidential-election.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Since 15 August 2018, the [[President of Paraguay]] has been [[Mario Abdo Benítez]]. They are both from the conservative [[Colorado Party (Paraguay)|Colorado Party]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45200965|title=New Paraguayan President Abdo Benítez sworn in|date=15 August 2018|work=BBC News|access-date=1 April 2021|archive-date=15 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415203558/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45200965|url-status=live}}</ref> President Mario Abdo enjoyed a close relationship with the Brazilian far-right president (in power 2019–2022), [[Jair Bolsonaro]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-paraguay-president-idUSKCN1V421O|title=Paraguayan president's popularity plummets amid Brazil-linked political crisis|first=Mariel|last=Cristaldo|date=14 August 2019|work=reuters.com|access-date=1 June 2021|archive-date=2 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602215301/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-paraguay-president-idUSKCN1V421O|url-status=live}}</ref> In February 2019, President Mario Abdo Benitez was at Bolsonaro's side when Bolsonaro praised Paraguayan military dictator Alfredo Stroessner, calling him "a man of vision".<ref>{{cite news |title=Brazil's Bolsonaro praises late Paraguay dictator Stroessner |website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/brazils-bolsonaro-praises-late-paraguay-dictator-stroessner-61386307 |url-status=live |access-date=1 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602214208/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/brazils-bolsonaro-praises-late-paraguay-dictator-stroessner-61386307 |archive-date=2 June 2021}}</ref> In 2021, Paraguay became the first country in South America to produce electric energy in its [[100% renewable energy]] supply. In May 2023, [[Santiago Peña]] of the long-ruling Colorado Party, won the presidential [[2023 Paraguayan general election|election]] to succeed Mario Abdo as the next [[President of Paraguay]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Amid protests, authorities uphold legitimacy of Paraguay election |website=[[Al Jazeera Media Network|al Jazeera]] (aljazeera.com) |language=en |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/3/amid-protests-authorities-uphold-legitimacy-of-paraguay-election |access-date=26 May 2023 |archive-date=3 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603212859/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/3/amid-protests-authorities-uphold-legitimacy-of-paraguay-election |url-status=live }}</ref> On 15 August 2023, Santiago Peña was sworn in as Paraguay's new president.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Desantis |first1=Daniela |last2=Elliott |first2=Lucinda |last3=Elliott |first3=Lucinda |title=Paraguay's President Pena sworn in, Taiwan VP in attendance |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/new-paraguayan-president-santiago-pena-sworn-2023-08-15/ |work=Reuters |date=16 August 2023 |language=en |access-date=18 August 2023 |archive-date=18 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230818142608/https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/new-paraguayan-president-santiago-pena-sworn-2023-08-15/ |url-status=live }}</ref>