Raul Cubas Grau

Raúl Alberto Cubas Grau (Asunción, Paraguay, August 23, 1943) is a Paraguayan politician and engineer, who took office as the 48th president of Paraguay from August 15, 1998, until March 28, 1999, when he resigned from office in the midst of the Paraguayan march protests, which at the same time broke out due to the assassination of his vice president and rival, Luis María Argaña.

Biography

He studied the military career when he was young, but he suffered from an illness that prevented him from continuing, and he chose to study Industrial Engineering at the University of Asunción, graduating in 1967. He worked at the National Electricity Administration (Ande), in the From the 80s he was manager of a private company, in charge of public works, becoming a prosperous businessman.

He entered politics by joining the National Republican Association (Colorado Party) and served as Minister of Finance in the Juan Carlos Wasmosy government from 1993 until his resignation due to his disagreements with him in 1996, due to his opposition to his dismissal by Lino Oviedo.

President (1998-1999)

In 1998 he was elected candidate of the National Republican Association for the vice presidency of the republic, in a formula with General Oviedo, who finally had to withdraw his candidacy due to his political-judicial problems; He then assumed the presidential candidacy, and was accompanied by the veteran Luis María Argaña, who had lost the primaries with Oviedo; the formula finally won in the elections of that same year, although it was made up of two irreconcilable enemies, to the point that the advertising posters of the campaign had to be made with a montage of photographs of both. Argaña promoted the boycott of his own list, knowing that he was going to win anyway, which led to the fact that when the time came, Cubas formed his Cabinet and main positions with members of his sector, without giving any position to the argañista sector (and for both: leaving it out of the sources of income and the traditional political quotas) This provoked an immediate reaction from said sector, which went on to ally itself with the opposition. The opportunity to overthrow the President came almost immediately: in his electoral campaign, Cubas promised to release Oviedo from prison, which he did on August 18 of that same year, three days after assuming the presidency, taking advantage of a legal loophole against the law. (modified on purpose) that prohibited both his pardon and pardon.

On March 23, 1999, Vice President Luis María Argaña was shot to death in his truck along with his bodyguards on "Diagonal Molas López" From the capital. Elements that would respond to Oviedo were immediately accused of this, although the trial was flawed and finally this was never proven, even saying that V.Pdte. he had died naturally and that the attack had been staged. A grenade that finally did not explode allowed us to see that the body (despite being riddled with bullets) showed no traces of blood. However, in the effervescence of the moment and due to discontent with the release of Oviedo, there were protest demonstrations by the population and several members of the Colorado Party itself accused Cubas of leading the country to a civil war. Argañista senators managed to cancel the debts of farmers who were demonstrating in the country's capital in exchange for their support against Cubas, and a general destabilization was promoted, supported by the media. This protest, later known as the Paraguayan March, ended with several deaths and this accelerated a proposal for impeachment in Parliament for the mismanagement of the crisis and the release of Oviedo. Seeing that the trial would prosper, President Cubas resigned, choosing to seek asylum in Brazil, where he lived for many years.

On March 28, 1999, he was replaced by the president of the Senate, Luis Ángel González Macchi. Among the few government works that he was able to carry out during his short administration, the national coverage of the maternal and child health service stands out. His slogan was "Cubas to the Government, Oviedo to power."

Exile and return to the country

He returned to Paraguay in February 2002, and was immediately arrested and prosecuted on charges of corruption and conspiring to assassinate Vice President Argaña, of which he was fully acquitted.

On September 21, 2004, her daughter Cecilia Cubas (30 years old at the time) was kidnapped, and although Cubas paid a ransom of US$800,000, in February 2005, the woman's body was found buried in an abandoned house in the city of Ñemby on the outskirts of Asunción. Four activists of the Patria Libre Party, including the leader, Osmar Martínez, were arrested, charged and convicted in an oral and public trial for the kidnapping and murder, the Paraguayan public prosecutor's office has accused FARC leaders of participating in the kidnapping and murder, helping Patria Libre logistically for such a crime. On October 19, 2021, Rodrigo Granda, the former foreign minister of the FARC, was arrested upon his arrival in Mexico City at the request of Paraguay for a red circular for kidnapping, criminal association and intentional homicide". They assure that the Farc were involved in the kidnapping and murder of Cecilia Cubas Gusinky who was found in a grave in 2005 after being tortured, the investigations relate to Granda as a link between Orley Jurado Palomino and Raúl Reyes during the planning of the kidnapping.