[1] The strike was called by the Confederación Paraguaya de Trabajadores (CPT; 'Paraguayan Workers' Confederation'), with demand such as a 30% raise in salaries, a general declaration of amnesty, a lifting of the state of emergency, a more equitable economic policy, securing the freedom to participate in political and trade union activities and the holding of a constituent assembly.
[2][3] The strike was organized in the backdrop of an internal power struggle within the Colorado Party, between the civilian wing led by Epifanio Méndez Fleitas and the Colorado elements in the armed forces led by General Alfredo Stroessner.
Around 10,000 workers gathered on August 26, 1958, for a meeting at the CPT central office in Asunción were a four-member strike committee was elected.
Communist leaders such as Antonio Maidana, Julio Rojas and Alfredo Alcorta were captured and would remain jailed for two decades.
[1][2] Partially as a consequence of the crackdown on the strike and the closure of legal means to voice protest, many labour movement activists came to consider that armed struggle was the sole measure of organizing resistance to Stroessner.