Raúl Cubas
| Raúl Cubas Grau | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 49th President of Paraguay | |
|
In office August 15, 1998 – March 29, 1999 |
|
| Vice President | Luis María Argaña |
| Preceded by | Juan Carlos Wasmosy |
| Succeeded by | Luis Ángel González Macchi |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
August 23, 1943 Asuncion, Paraguay |
| Political party | Colorado Party |
Raúl Alberto Cubas Grau (born August 23, 1943 in Asunción) is a Paraguayan politician. He served as the President of Paraguay from 1998 until 1999.
Cubas Grau studied Engineering at the National University of Asunción.
He was a member of the Colorado Party. Prior to standing for election, he worked as an electrical engineer, and served as finance minister of Paraguay from 1993 until his resignation in April 1996.
When the 1998 campaign began, army general Lino Oviedo named Cubas as his running mate. However, a few months before the election, Oviedo was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a 1996 coup and was disqualified. Cubas took his place on the ballot and won the May 1998 election with 54% of the vote under the slogan "Cubas in government, Oviedo in power." To date, it is the only time since the restoration of democracy in Paraguay that a presidential candidate has won an outright majority.
In June, the Paraguayan Congress passed a law that said that the president could not pardon anyone who had not served at least half of his or her prison term. In August, however, three days after his inauguration, Cubas reduced Oviedo’s sentence to the time already served, then released him from jail. Despite an order from the Paraguayan Supreme Court in December 1998, Cubas refused to send Oviedo back to jail. In response, the Chamber of Deputies voted to charge Cubas with abuse of power in February 1999. The vote was only two votes short of that necessary for a formal impeachment.
Cubas' vice-president, Luis María Argaña, who had been named as Cubas' running mate to prevent the Colorados from losing power but was leading the anti-Oviedo bloc in the Colorado Party, was brutally murdered in March 1999, allegedly as a result of a dispute over the Oviedo release. His murder was allegedly done by a group with ties to Oviedo. Cubas was implicated and protests broke out. Thousands participated in public demonstrations led by striking workers, demanding that Cubas resign. Security forces were called out. Seven people were shot to death and dozens were injured when the demonstrations turned violent.
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