1989 Paraguayan coup d'état

Date	2–3 February 1989
Location	Asunción, Paraguay
Result	Stroessner is removed from power and sent into exile Andrés Rodríguez becomes president

Belligerents

Government of Paraguay

1st Army Corps
Supported by:

United States

Commanders and leaders

Alfredo Stroessner

Andrés Rodríguez

Casualties and losses

estimated 31–300 soldiers killed in action

The 1989 Paraguayan coup d'état, also known as La Noche de la Candelaria, was a coup d'état that took place on 2–3 February 1989 in Asunción, Paraguay led by General Andrés Rodríguez against the regime of long-time leader Alfredo Stroessner. The bloody overthrow which saw numerous soldiers killed in street fighting was sparked by a power struggle in the highest echelons of the government. Rodríguez's takeover spelled the end of Stroessner's thirty-four year long rule, at the time the longest in Latin America, and led to an array of reforms which abolished numerous draconian laws and led to the liberalization of Paraguay.

Alfredo Stroessner, a general and veteran of the Paraguayan Civil War and the Chaco War, came to power in the aftermath of the 1954 coup d'état. As president he declared a "state of siege" and instituted a number of laws and security reforms which gave him the power to suspend civil liberties, including habeas corpus and freedom of assembly. Between 1958 and 1988, Stroessner was reelected seven times by questionably high margins of victory (only in the 1968 election did an opposition candidate receive more than 20% of the vote). The United States was one of President Stroessner's most ardent supporters, due to his fervent anti-communism and Paraguay was the recipient of large amounts of U.S. military assistance during the 1960s and 1970s. The "state of siege" imposed by Stroessner soon after assuming the presidency was officially lifted in 1987; however, this move was largely symbolic as most of the country's stringent security provisions remained in place.

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