Juan de Mena (Paraguay), 1943

By Emir Sader

A military officer, he was one of the main leaders of the Colorado Party and one of the most powerful political figures in Paraguay. He attempted to seize power through a coup against the government of Juan Carlos Wasmosy (1994-1998), even though he was the strongest candidate for the presidency. However, the conspiracy was uncovered, and he was arrested and sentenced to ten years in prison. From prison, he supported the candidacy of Raúl Cubas Grau in 1998, who won the election and freed him. The following year, Cubas resigned, and Oviedo was accused of being the mastermind behind the assassination of Luis María Argaña, the Vice President of the Republic. Oviedo fled to Argentina, where he sought political asylum, and later moved to Brazil, where he was detained in 2000.

On June 28, 2004, Oviedo returned to Paraguay and surrendered to the authorities to serve his ten-year sentence. His supporters rallied to present an amnesty proposal, while lawyers filed habeas corpus requests. After spending about a month in detention, he was granted provisional release, and a few months later, the Supreme Court overturned his conviction. He was definitively acquitted on October 30, 2007, and immediately declared his intention to return to politics. He died on February 2, 2013, in a helicopter crash while returning from a campaign rally. He was 69 years old and was, at the time, a candidate for president of Paraguay representing the National Union of Ethical Citizens Party (Unace).