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Gunman in Capital kills Paraguay VP

Argana's allies in the bitterly divided ruling party immediately accused former Gen. Lino Oviedo, who is considered the power behind the throne and was the dead man's longtime rival, of masterminding the slaying.

President Raul Cubas, a close Oviedo ally, went on national television to announce the shutdown of the nation's borders and a police dragnet for the killers.

"Paraguay and its people need order and tranquillity," Cubas said, adding that "Argana's sacrifice must show us the way."

As the president met with military leaders, Congress called an emergency session, unions announced a general strike, and enraged demonstrators demanded the president's resignation. There was widespread doubt about Cubas' willingness and ability to solve the crime and perhaps even about his capacity to retain control of the nation.

Yesterday's killing marked the start of a dangerous and potentially destabilizing new era, said Carlos Martini, a prominent political analyst.

"There was not a tradition of political crimes here," Martini said in a telephone interview. "The last assassination was in 1902. We are living moments of great conflict and tension."

The assassination took place about 8:50 a.m. when a blue Fiat intercepted the vice president's red

Nissan Pathfinder as he was being driven to his office in the capital, Asuncion. Four gunmen dressed

in military camouflage uniforms and armed with an M-16 rifle, a shotgun and hand grenades

unleashed a barrage that killed Argana, 66, and his driver and wounded two bodyguards, one

critically. The assassins piled out and finished off the vice president at close range, witnesses said.

Television footage showed a bodyguard walking in a daze at the scene, his face a mask of blood,

calling for help over a hand radio. Argana, wearing a white shirt, slumped in the back seat of the

bullet-riddled Pathfinder.

Among the leaders who quickly denounced Cubas was former President Juan Carlos Wasmosy.

``We are witnessing the installation of criminal violence as a system of domination, and terror as an

instrument of government," declared Wasmosy, who was the target of a coup attempt by Oviedo in

1996 and ordered his arrest the following year. ``The man who is responsible for this situation of

chaos, violence and now blood is the president."

Oviedo, meanwhile, made no public statement.

In Washington, the State Department condemned the slaying.

The slain Argana was leading an impeachment drive against Cubas. Their feud dated to last year,

when the presidential candidacy of Oviedo, a former army chief, was interrupted by his arrest for

attempting the coup. Cubas and Argana made peace long enough to win election on a hastily

assembled new ticket of the Colorado Party, a fractious but powerful political machine that has ruled

Paraguay for half a century.

The intraparty hostilities resumed when Cubas defied the Supreme Court and released Oviedo from

prison a few days after taking office. The ensuing struggle resulted in the impeachment initiative,

which is scheduled for debate in Congress on April 7.

(Optional add end)

In recent months, gunmen had opened fire on Argana's house. He continued to insist that Oviedo be

returned to prison, and supporters of the vice president scuffled with people loyal to Oviedo at

Colorado Party headquarters. Oviedo's rhetoric and tactics have been aggressive and occasionally

menacing. In December, he threatened to bury alive his enemies on the Supreme Court.

Argana was a former Supreme Court justice and Colorado leader who rose to power under former

dictator Alfredo Stroessner, whose ouster in 1989 after 35 years of rule paved the way for the return

of democracy. Since then, Paraguay, a landlocked and resource-poor nation of 5 million, has been

troubled by economic crisis and political turmoil centered on the figure of Oviedo.

The populist authoritarian gives fiery speeches in indigenous Guarani, goes by the nickname ``The

Horseman" and surrounds himself with bodyguards drawn from his old cavalry regiment. He built a

strong political following as commander of the army, which has been accused of enriching itself with

illicit activities, especially at the lawless border with Brazil and Argentina, where international mafias

run billion-dollar criminal industries.

LA TIMES-WASHINGTON POST--03-23-99 1924EST

Prosecutors search Kremlin offices

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03-24-99