[1][2][3] The opposition blamed the then-President, Raúl Cubas Grau, and also the strongman of Paraguayan politics of that time, Lino Oviedo, for the assassination.

The background for the Marzo paraguayo can be traced back to the feud between two important Paraguayan caudillos at the time: Luis María Argaña and Lino Oviedo.

He was a judge during Paraguay's long-lasting military dictatorship under Alfredo Stroessner, and served in a number of important national positions during previous administrations.

[7] Argaña and Oviedo faced off in what was described by Paraguayan newspaper Última Hora as "the most energetic and exalted electoral campaign" of the Colorado Party.

[1] In response, the Chamber of Deputies voted to charge Cubas with abuse of power in February 1999, and began proceedings to start an impeachment process.

[1] On the morning of 23 March 1999, Vice President Argaña was traveling from his residence, when minutes before 9:00 a.m. three men aboard a car intercepted his vehicle.

The Oviedistas occupied the entire sector for a few minutes, as the opposition entered the square again, attacking with stones and sticks, and succeeded in driving the supporters of the government and the police out of the place.

[8][9] In the evening there was an attack by snipers located in buildings near the squares of the Congress or from nearby streets, killing seven demonstrators.

[8][9] With his political support having disappeared and facing near-certain conviction and removal by the Senate, Cubas Grau announced his resignation on the night of 28 March.

[13] ABC Color journalist and ally of Oviedo, Hugo Ruiz Olazar, published a series of articles and interviews that were oriented to expose what he claimed were the "hidden truth" of the Marzo paraguayo.

According to Olazar, all these statements led him to the conclusion that the Marzo paraguayo was a conspiracy designed to discredit Oviedo and Cubas Grau and overthrow the latter's government.

[23] In 2004, Oviedo returned to Paraguay to face his charges both for the 1996 coup attempt and the killing of protesters during the Marzo paraguayo, and was immediately transferred to the Viñas Cue military prison.

Similar views were expressed by other leaders of the civil and political society of Paraguay, surprised that after nine years of process, many of those accused of being involved in the massacre alongside Oviedo were suddenly absolved.

[37] The 2017 Paraguayan political crisis, in which a series of protests began in response to a constitutional amendment that would permit the President to run for re-election, during which demonstrators set fire to the Congress building, were sometimes referred to as "the second Marzo paraguayo" due to also taking place in March, or as "Cartes's Marzo paraguayo" in reference to then-President Horacio Cartes, whom the opposition and protesters held responsible for the crisis.