Accessibility links

Breaking News

Paraguay Presidential Candidate Dies in Helicopter Crash


A conservative candidate in Paraguay's upcoming presidential election has died in a helicopter crash.

Aviation officials say Lino Oviedo was returning from a political rally in northern Paraguay Saturday night with his bodyguard when the aircraft crashed en route to the capital, Asuncion. Both men and the pilot died.

The cause of the crash is not yet known, but authorities say weather was bad at the time the helicopter went down.

The 69-year-old Oviedo was running in April's elections as leader of Paraguay's third-largest opposition party, the National Union of Ethical Citizens.

His death came exactly 24 years after longtime dictator Alfredo Stroessner surrendered in a military coup. It is said that Oviedo, a former general, is the one who took custody of Stroessner in a bunker.
XS
SM
MD
LG