Luis Maria Argana, born on 9thOctober 1932 in Asuncion, was the vice-president of Paraguay between 1988 and 1999. He was shot to death on 23rdMarch 1999, in the street called as “ Diagonal Molas Lopez ” of Asuncion.
Argana served in a various national positions which include a part of the political group that took part in Alfredo Stroessner, a Paraguayan dictator. During the last years of his life, he was the president of ANR (Association National Republic) or Colorado Party. Until the assassination of Luis Argana in 1999, he was an important member of the Colorado party.
Argana was defeated by General Lino Oviedo in a primary election. Raul Cubas, a running mate of Oviedo became the Colorado Party's de facto candidate. Cubas selected Luis Argana as his running mate. There was extensive belief that Cubas, a weak political leader, was not more than a puppet for General Oviedo and (the) first actions of Cubas as a president was to grant General Oviedo a pardon from prison. Soon after that, the legislative branch started an investigation that would eventually lead to impeachment proceedings against Cubas.
With the pending impeachment of Cuba, Luis Argana was set to succeed as a president. However, assailants assaulted the vehicle of the president outside his home in Asuncion on the morning of 23rdMarch 1999 shooting the SUV with many gunfire rounds before escaping. In the wake of the killing, succeeding riots that took place in Asuncion, Cuba resigned from the post of president on 28thMarch.
The assassination of Argana is yet to be clarified, but the famous theory holds that General Oviedo masterminded the crime. Although Cubas was usually viewed to be manipulated by the influence of General Oviedo easily, his impeachment would mean that Luis Argana would escalate the power, whereas Argana was one of the firm political rivals of Oviedo. During the most recent military dictatorship of Paraguay, Argana handled the responsibility of a judge. It was determined that Luis Argana was killed by a (an) armed group moving into a car that intercepted the vehicle carrying Argana, his bodyguard and driver. The group fired repeatedly against Argana, his bodyguard and driver in which Argana was killed.
Image Authority: BBC News
