February 3, 1989: The Liberation of Paraguay

Alfredo Stroessner

February 3, 1989: A military coup overthrows the Fascist government of Paraguay, ruled for nearly 35 years by General Alfredo Stroessner. The liberation of the South American nation has begun.

With help from the CIA, Stroessner had overthrown President Federico Chavez on May 4, 1954, and ruled Paraguay for the next 35 years. Only Fidel Castro has ever led a Latin American country for longer. Unlike the leftist Castro, however, Stroessner was hard right, and every bit as oppressive: Kidnapping, torture, forced disappearance and extrajudicial killing, were routine and systematic during his regime.

Paraguay became a haven for ousted rightist dictators (such as Juan Peron of Argentina and Anastasio Somoza of Nicaragua), Nazi war criminals (such as Josef Mengele), and smugglers of anything (including drugs).

On February 3, 1989, Stroessner was, himself overthrown by a military coup, led by General Andrés Rodríguez. His group was concerned that, when Stroessner died, he would be succeeded by one of his sons; and one was a cocaine addict, and the other one was gay, and thus both were vulnerable to blackmail.

Andrés Rodríguez

Rodríguez promised not to run in the first election held after the new constitution, and he kept his word. He was succeeded by a civilian President, Juan Carlos Wasmosy, and died in New York in 1997, seeking cancer treatment. Ironically, Stroessner outlived him, dying in exile in Brazil in 2006. Today, Paraguay is a constitutional republic, with a civilian President.

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February 3, 1989 was a Friday. Baseball and football were out of season. There were 10 games played in the NBA:

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Utah Jazz, 129-101 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Washington Bullets, 117-108 at the Boston Garden.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 124-106 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. Adrian Dantley scored 33 points for the Pistons.

* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Seattle Supersonics, 108-106 at the Charlotte Coliseum.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Sacramento Kings, 110-94 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Indiana Pacers, 109-91 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Phoenix Suns, 121-117 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas. Mark Aguirre scored 36 points for the Mavs.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Chicago Bulls, 105-98 at The Summit in Houston. It's now the Central Campus of televangelist Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 106-101 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 140-129 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

There were 4 games in the NHL:

* The Washington Capitals beat the Hartford Whalers, 1-0 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins and the St. Louis Blues played to a tie, 3-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Winnipeg Jets, 4-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* And the Edmonton Oilers beat the Detroit Red Wings, 8-5 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.