Paraguay History Timeline

1500s

(1525) Portuguese explorer Alejo Garcia visited Paraguay
(1526) Sebastian Cabot explored rivers of Paraguay
(1537) Juan de Salazar founded Asucion, capital of Paraguay
(1542) Spanish colonists settled Asuncion
(1609) Spanish Jesuits converted local population to Roman Catholicism
(1811) Paraguay became independent
(1865-1870) Paraguay lost 90% of adult male population and large tracts of land in the war of Triple Alliance with Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay over sea access

1900s

(1932-1935) Paraguay won territory in west from Bolivia during Chaco War
(1945) Peru, Paraguay, Chile, Ecuador joined United Nations
(1989) General Andres Rodriguez staged coup to oust General Alfredo Stroessner; Andres Rodriguez elected president in first free presidential elections in 35 years
(1992) New democratic constitution promulgated
(1993) Juan Carlos Wasmosy won presidential elections
(1998) Raul Cubas elected president amid fraud allegations
(1999) President Raul Cubas resigned in wake of assassination of vice-president Luis Maria Argana; senator Luis Gonzalez Macchi sworn in as president

2000s

(2000)Army major, two men sentenced to prison terms for Argana's murder
(2001) Head of central bank resigned over alleged involvement in fraudulent transfers of $16 million to US bank account
(2002) President Gonzalez Macchi accused of corruption for alleged role in illegal investment scandal; congress voted impeachment proceedings, Macchi survived vote to remove him from office
(2003) Nicanor Duarte Frutos sworn in as president; predecessor Luis Gonzalez Macchi barred from leaving country, put on trail for corruption charges
(2004) Cecilia Cubas, daughter of former president Raul Cubas, kidnapped, murdered
(2005) Cecilia Cubas' body found
(2006) 15 members of radical leftist group convicted, sentenced for kidnapping, murder of Cecilia Cubas
(2007) Government declared state of emergency due to outbreak of dengue fever
(2008) Former Roman Catholic Bishop Fernando Lugo was inaugurated, ended 61 years of one-party rule
(2009) Brazil agreed to triple compensation to Paraguay to operate Itaipu hydro-electric dam on shared border
(2010) Security forces launched operations against left-wing rebel group blamed for flood of violent incidents in northern Paraguay

Paraguay's Information

This page was last updated on April 7, 2017.