The bloody overthrow which saw numerous soldiers killed in street fighting was sparked by a power struggle in the highest echelons of the government.

Soon after taking office, 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.

[1][2][3] The United States was one of President Stroessner's most ardent supporters due to his fervent anti-communism; Paraguay was the recipient of large amounts of U.S. military assistance during the 1960s and 1970s.

[4][5] The state of siege imposed by Stroessner soon after assuming the presidency was officially lifted in 1987; however, this move was largely symbolic; its substance remained in place by way of draconian security laws.

For instance, even after Stroessner nominally lifted the state of siege in 1987, opposition leaders and meetings were subject to the same heavy-handed repression that had become the norm in the country for over 30 years.

Troops from the unit attempted to arrest Stroessner as he dined at his mistress' home, however bodyguards resisted fiercely and allowed the president to escape to the headquarters of the Presidential Guards Regiment.

Artillery units and naval vessels in the city's harbor shelled the headquarters during the course of the battle and by 5:00pm on 3 February, the government under Stroessner surrendered.

Stroessner was initially detained at the base of the 1st Army Corps but he was flown to exile aboard a LAP Boeing 707 to Brasília, Brazil on 6 February after being granted asylum.

After the attack commences and there is a brief negotiation between the coup plotters and HQ, eventually the Stroessners and others in the HQ (including the Minister of Defense, the Army Chief of Staff, the Military Training School commander, the Presidential Escort Regiment commander, the Chief of Military Intelligence, two other generals and five colonels) start filing out one-by-one at 12:40 AM.

Rodríguez began his rule by reversing Stroessner's repressive measures, removing his loyalists from the military, and abolishing the death penalty.