In 1776 Spanish king Carlos III created the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata with Buenos Aires as its capital city.

It included parts of modern-day Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay and the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.

The military forces, under Fulgencio Yegros, were expected to march from Itapúa supported by garrisons in other towns, but negotiations of governor Velasco with Portuguese representatives from Brazil, hastened the uprising.

Plotters led by captain Pedro Juan Caballero went to the Governor's quarters located on the main square of Asunción, where they were greeted by second lieutenant Mauricio José Troche, a supporter of the plot, who was on duty and in charge of the small garrison of 34 men from Curuguaty.

At midnight, ensign Vicente Ignacio Iturbe presented himself to governor Velasco with demands from plotters led by Caballero, which could be summarized as follows: A group of officers and politicians, which included captain Pedro Juan Caballero, Fulgencio Yegros, Vicente Ignacio Iturbe, Mauricio Jose Troche, Fernando de la Mora, Juan Valeriano de Zeballos and José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia forced governor Velasco to agree on the creation of a three-man executive junta.

[5] As governor Bernardo de Velasco was reluctant to accept the conditions presented by the plotters, additional revolutionary troops came to the square and set up a battery of eight cannons in front of the government house in Asunción; ensign Vicente Ignacio Iturbe brought a new ultimatum, setting a short deadline for response.

As the town garrison assembled, Governor Velasco hoping to avoid bloodshed, came to the government house's door and said: "If this is because of authority, I give up the command baton."

The Junta, which consisted of governor Velasco, local politician Francia and Spanish-born officer Zeballos, and still swore allegiance to the Spanish crown, ruled until the First National Congress was convened on 17 June 1811.

The Third National Congress was held on October 3–4, 1814 and replaced the two-man executive body with a single ruler dictatorship, to which Francia was elected.

[7] While Paraguay managed to isolate itself from the outside world under the rule of Francia and avoided military conflicts with the Argentine Confederation and the Empire of Brazil, its independence was still not recognized internationally.