Lino Oviedo
Encyclopedia
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
an politician and former army general.
Life and work
Oviedo was born in poverty in the town of Juan de MenaJuan de Mena
Juan de Mena was one of the most significant Spanish poets of the fifteenth century. He was highly regarded at the court of Juan II de Castilla, who appointed him veinticuatro of Córdoba, secretario de cartas latinas and cronista real...
(Cordillera Department
Cordillera Department
-History:During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries this area of the country was going through a serious crisis due to population bellicosity of the Indians from Chaco. The villagers from Tobatí located north of the river Pirapo then called, had to migrate south for the continue attacks by...
) on September 23, 1943. He chose a military career, studied in Germany and eventually became a close aide to General Andrés Rodríguez
Andrés Rodríguez
Andrés Rodríguez Pedotti was the President of Paraguay from February 3, 1989 to August 15, 1993. He assumed the presidency in a coup d'état against Alfredo Stroessner.-1989 Coup d'état:...
. He was named chief of the Army in 1993. When President Juan Carlos Wasmosy
Juan Carlos Wasmosy
Juan Carlos Wasmosy Monti was the President of Paraguay from 1993 until 1998. He was a member of the Colorado Party, and the country's first civilian president in 39 years....
asked him to step down from that position in April 1996, he allegedly refused and threatened a coup d'etat
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
. After days of tension, Wasmosy offered him the Defence Ministry instead, but when Oviedo went to the presidential palace to take the oath, dressed in civilian clothes, the President, backed by popular demonstrations, withdrew the offer.
Ousted from the military, he concentrated in winning the ruling Colorado Party's candidacy for the 1998 presidential elections, and succeeded by presenting a populist platform through his great rhetorical skills. A month before the national elections, and while leading the polls, he was finally condemned to a ten-year prison term for his 1996's military mutiny. His running mate Raúl Cubas continued the campaign and eventually won the elections, largely based on the promise to free Oviedo, which in fact he did days after taking office, over the protest of the Paraguayan Supreme Court and opposition leaders.
In March 1999, vice president Luis María Argaña
Luis María Argaña
Luis María del Corazón de Jesús Dionisio Argaña Ferraro was a prominent politician in Paraguay and influential member of the Colorado Party until his assassination in 1999....
, a key political enemy of both Oviedo and president Cubas, was assassinated. In mid of riots and political turmoil, Cubas resigned, abandoning Oviedo, who fled into exile, first in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and then in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
.
On June 28, 2004, he returned to Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
and was detained by the police, who took him to the Military Prison of Viñas Cué
Viñas Cué
Viñas Cué is the site of a Paraguayan military prison a short distance from the capital, Asunción.Its inmates have included Lino Oviedo....
, located a short distance from Asunción
Asunción
Asunción is the capital and largest city of Paraguay.The "Ciudad de Asunción" is an autonomous capital district not part of any department. The metropolitan area, called Gran Asunción, includes the cities of San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambaré, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, Ñemby, San...
. Initially sentenced to a ten-year term, he was released on parole for good behaviour on 6 September 2007.
Criticism
General Oviedo has been widely criticized by detractors who point to such acts as a public speech where he promised to use "whatever means necessary" to obtain and maintain power. He is also criticized for allegedly engaging in political campaigning while still holding a military rank, or too soon after leaving the military (there is a waiting period of six months before former military can engage in any sort of political campaigning). In fact, during the first half of Juan Carlos WasmosyJuan Carlos Wasmosy
Juan Carlos Wasmosy Monti was the President of Paraguay from 1993 until 1998. He was a member of the Colorado Party, and the country's first civilian president in 39 years....
's presidency, General Oviedo was viewed as some sort of Paraguay's strongman
Strongman (politics)
A strongman is a political leader who rules by force and runs an authoritarian regime. The term is often used interchangeably with "dictator," but differs from a "warlord".A strongman is not necessarily always a formal head of government, however...
. He was also accused of links to drug cartels, smuggling protection and the assassination of vice president Luís María Argaña. A populist, he constantly praises Argentine General Juan Domingo Perón as a model Latin American politician.
Oviedo left the ruling Colorado Party and founded his own political party, PUNACE, but lately has been criticized by his own followers for choosing his children and other family members for legislative candidacies, rather than political backers with more experience.
Pleads for Oviedo's release
In November 2006, a Paraguayan man, Tomás Velázquez, held a hunger strikeHunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
before being publicly crucified in Asunción
Asunción
Asunción is the capital and largest city of Paraguay.The "Ciudad de Asunción" is an autonomous capital district not part of any department. The metropolitan area, called Gran Asunción, includes the cities of San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambaré, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, Ñemby, San...
. He maintained that Oviedo was the target of political persecution and that the military tribunal
Military tribunal
A military tribunal is a kind of military court designed to try members of enemy forces during wartime, operating outside the scope of conventional criminal and civil proceedings. The judges are military officers and fulfill the role of jurors...
that convicted him for his alleged participation in a subversive plot was illegal
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
according to the constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
, as it had been conducted in time of peace
Peace
Peace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...
.
Supreme Court decision and potential presidential candidacy
On October 30, 2007, Oviedo's conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court in an eight to one decision following testimony from former officers that there had been no coup attempt. The ruling left Oviedo free to run in the April 2008 presidential electionParaguayan general election, 2008
The 2008 Paraguayan general election was held in Paraguay on April 20, 2008. This includes presidential, legislative, and local elections. The presidential election was won by opposition candidate Fernando Lugo of the Patriotic Alliance for Change, who defeated Blanca Ovelar of the long-ruling...
. In January 2008 he was nominated as the candidate of his party, the National Union of Ethical Citizens
National Union of Ethical Citizens
The National Union of Ethical Citizens is a political party in Paraguay.-History:The party was established in 2002, although its predecessor, the Unión Nacional de Colorados Éticos, was founded in 1996 as a faction within the ruling Colorado party...
, without opposition. He lost the election getting 22.8 % of votes.