Luis María Argaña
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Luis María del Corazón de Jesús Dionisio Argaña Ferraro (October 3, 1932 – March 23, 1999) was a prominent Paraguayan politician and
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
judge. He was an influential member of the Colorado Party and rose to the Vice-Presidency in 1998, but was assassinated in March 1999 at a time when it appeared likely that he would inherit the presidency from
Raúl Cubas Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...
, who was on the verge of being
impeached Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...
. The incident and its aftermath is known in Paraguay as ''
Marzo paraguayo The ''Marzo paraguayo'' ("Paraguayan March") was a political crisis that occurred in Paraguay because of the assassination of the then-Vice President of Paraguay, Vice President Luis María Argaña on 23 March 1999. The opposition blamed the th ...
'' ("the Paraguayan March"). An airport in Paraguay,
Dr. Luis María Argaña International Airport Dr. Luis María Argaña International Airport is an airport that serves the small city of Mariscal Estigarribia, in the Boquerón Department of Paraguay. The airport is named after Luis María Argaña, a vice president who was assassinated in 19 ...
, is named for him.


Career

Argaña graduated in law and social sciences from the
Universidad Nacional de Asunción The Universidad Nacional de Asunción or Mbo'ehaovusu Tetãgua Paraguaygua, abbreviated UNA, anglicized as, The National University of Asuncion, is a public university founded in San Lorenzo, Paraguay. Founded in 1889, it is the oldest and most t ...
in 1958.Joshua Abreu, Project Paraguay
Luis Maria Argaña
He became a Professor at the University, and entered politics, becoming a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Paraguay. He also became a judge, and was President of the
Supreme Court of Paraguay The Supreme Court of Justice of Paraguay ( es, Corte Suprema de Justicia del Paraguay) is the highest court of Paraguay. The Senate and the President of Paraguay select its nine ministers (judges) on the basis of recommendations from a constituti ...
(1983 - 1988). During 1989-1990 he served as Foreign Minister. Argaña was a judge during Paraguay's long-lasting military dictatorship under Alfredo Stroessner. He has been accused of turning a blind eye to cases of torture and political killings. Stroessner dissident
Joel Filártiga Joel Holden Filártiga Ferreira (15 August 1932 – 5 July 2019) was a Paraguayan doctor, artist and human rights activist. He became known for his human rights activism after his son, Joelito Filártiga, who was killed by the police during the d ...
accused Argaña of blocking the screening in Paraguay of the 1991 TV movie ''
One Man's War ''One Man's War'' is a 1991 television drama film set in Paraguay in 1976, under the dictatorship of General Alfredo Stroessner. It is based on the true story of Joel Filártiga (played by Anthony Hopkins), who sought justice for his son's death ...
'', depicting Filártiga's search for justice for the 1976 death of his son at the hands of Stroessner's secret police. Despite his long identification with Stroessner, Argaña was a member of the "traditionalist" faction of the Colorados, which had come to favor a more humane way of ruling the country. Soon after stepping down from the Supreme Court, he accused Stroessner of running a police state, and claimed that "imposters" had taken over the party. He went on to say that those who persecuted defenseless women or attacked priests were not really Paraguayans, let alone Colorados. He soon emerged as the de facto leader of the traditionalist faction.


1998 election as Vice-President

Luis Argaña served in a number of important national positions during previous administrations before running an ultimately unsuccessful bid for president in the 1993 election. He publicly vowed that if elected, he would allow Stroessner to return from exile. Although leading opinion polling at one point, he lost the Colorado Party primary to Juan Carlos Wasmosy who went on to win the first completely free election in the country's history. He tried again to obtain the party's presidential nomination for the 1998 election, losing in a bitterly contested primary election against General Lino Oviedo. Due to the General's involvement in a failed coup attempt in 1996, Oviedo was imprisoned before the 1998 general election. Oviedo's running mate,
Raúl Cubas Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...
, replaced Oviedo on the Colorado ticket, but lacked the widespread support that Oviedo commanded. Argaña was selected as Cubas' running mate, the pair subsequently being elected to office by a wide margin. As a candidate, Argaña was criticised for bringing Stroessner's era officials back to political life, through his faction Colorado Reconciliation Movement.


1999 assassination

There was widespread belief that Cubas, a relatively weak political leader, was merely a puppet for the disgraced General Oviedo. One of Cubas' first acts as president was to grant Oviedo a pardon from prison, defying the
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
. Shortly thereafter, the Chamber of Deputies of Paraguay voted to charge Cubas with abuse of power, and began investigations that would ultimately lead to formal impeachment proceedings. Had Cubas been removed from office, Argaña was set to succeed him as president. However, on the morning of March 23, 1999, assailants ambushed the vice president's vehicle just outside his Asunción home, peppering the SUV with multiple rounds of gunfire before escaping. President Cubas ordered a lockdown of the country's borders. In the wake of the killing and the subsequent riots that took place in the capital area, Cubas' support melted away. The Chamber of Deputies impeached him by an overwhelming margin. Facing all-but-certain conviction and removal from office by the Senate, Cubas resigned on March 28, fleeing the country and seeking and ultimately being granted political asylum in neighboring Brazil. Senate president
Luis Ángel González Macchi Luis Ángel González Macchi (born December 13, 1947, in Asunción) was the President of Paraguay from 1999 until 2003. Career He was the President of the Paraguayan Senate from 1998 to 1999. As the president of the Senate, González Macchi ...
, who was next in line for the presidency after Argaña's death, served out the balance of Cubas' term. Argaña's assassination has never been fully resolved, but popular theory holds that the ousted General Oviedo (who had been granted asylum in Argentina shortly after his release from prison) masterminded the crime. Although Cubas was generally viewed to be easily manipulated by Oviedo's influence, his impeachment would mean Argaña, one of Oviedo's staunchest political rivals, would become president. The belief that Argaña was assassinated to prevent an Oviedo opponent from running the country was strengthened when Congress sought to extradite the general from Argentina, without success. On October 23, 1999, Pablo Vera Esteche was arrested in Paraguay. He said the murder, for which he and two other gunmen were paid a total of $300,000, was authorised by Cubas and Oviedo. Vera Esteche was sentenced to 20 years on October 24 (reduced to 18 years four years later). His accomplices were also jailed for lengthy sentences.


References


External links


Official website of the assassination of Argaña
{{DEFAULTSORT:Argana, Luis Maria Vice presidents of Paraguay Assassinated Paraguayan politicians 1932 births 1999 deaths Deaths by firearm in Paraguay People murdered in Paraguay People from Asunción Foreign Ministers of Paraguay Colorado Party (Paraguay) politicians Universidad Nacional de Asunción alumni 20th-century Paraguayan lawyers Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies of Paraguay Paraguayan judges 1999 murders in Paraguay