Paraguayan presidential candidate killed in helicopter crash

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/03/paraguay-presidential-candidate-dies

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Paraguayan presidential candidate Lino Oviedo, one of the leaders of the 1989 coup that overthrew dictator Alfredo Stroessner, died in a helicopter crash over the weekend. A retired general known as a dynamic public speaker, the 69-year-old Oviedo was planning to stand in the presidential election scheduled for April.

Police rescuers found his body on Sunday in the wreckage of the crash in northern Paraguay where he was travelling for a campaign event. The day marked exactly 24 years since the coup that ended Stroessner's 35-year dictatorship.

Oviedo's popularity was based on the story – often repeated by his supporters but never independently verified – of how he broke into Stroessner's bunker with a grenade and forced the dictator to surrender.

Polls showed that he was in fourth or fifth place, with 8% support, going into the election.

"On behalf of the government, we send our sincere condolences to the family of General Lino César Oviedo," President Federico Franco said in a tweet. The government decreed three days of mourning and suspended all official activities.

Oviedo, known for his fluency in the indigenous Guarani language spoken in Paraguay's poorer neighbourhoods, was accused of plotting to overthrow governments in the 1990s and sentenced to 10 years in jail. He was pardoned before completing the term and returned to politics as leader of the conservative National Union of Ethical Citizens party. "He is a person who unquestionably figures in the history of our country, with all its light and shadows," said the communications minister, Gustavo Kohn.

The latest photos on Oviedo's Facebook page show him wearing a straw hat and plaid shirt, speaking on Saturday at a political rally in the northern province of Concepción.

Interior minister Carmelo Caballero said the government would investigate the crash, which occurred on Saturday night as Oviedo was flying back to Asunción in adverse weather. <strong> </strong>