Editing Alfredo Stroessner (section)

===Downfall===
{{Main|1989 Paraguayan coup d'état}}
In April 1987, Stroessner lifted the state of siege as part of the run-up to elections the following spring. However, several draconian security laws remained in effect, meaning that the substance (if not the form) of the state of siege was still in place. As had been the case for over three decades, opposition leaders continued to be arbitrarily arrested and opposition meetings and demonstrations were broken up (often brutally). Stroessner was nominated by the Colorados once again, and was the only candidate who was allowed to campaign completely unmolested.<ref name="cs"/> Under these circumstances, the February 1988 election was no different from past elections, with Stroessner officially registering 89 percent of the vote — a margin that his rivals contended could have been obtained only through massive fraud.<ref>{{citation-attribution|1=[http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Paraguay.pdf Country profile: Paraguay]. [[Library of Congress]] [[Federal Research Division]] (October 2005). }}</ref>

On 3 February 1989, only six months after being sworn in for what would have been his eighth full term, Stroessner was ousted in a coup d'état led by General [[Andrés Rodríguez (politician)|Andrés Rodríguez]], his closest confidant for over three decades. One reason for the coup was that the generals feared one of Stroessner's offspring would succeed him. Of the two, Alfredo was a [[cocaine]] addict and [[w:es:Gustavo Stroessner|Gustavo]], a pilot, was loathed for being [[homosexuality|homosexual]]. A more outlandish rumour was that [[Lino Oviedo]] threatened Rodríguez with a grenade if he did not launch the coup. The two generals, Rodríguez and Oviedo, fought a brief artillery duel over Asunción.<ref>[[#Gimlette|Gimlette]], p. 29</ref>