1998 election, losing in a bitterly contested primary election against General Lino Oviedo. Due to the General's involvement in a failed coup attempt in 1996, Oviedo was imprisoned before the 1998 general election. Oviedo's running mate, Raúl Cubas, replaced Oviedo on the Colorado ticket, but lacked the widespread support that Oviedo commanded. Argaña was selected as Cubas' running mate, the pair subsequently being elected to office by a wide margin. As a candidate, Argaña was criticised for bringing Stroessner's era officials back to political life, through his faction Colorado Reconciliation Movement. 1999 assassination There was widespread belief that Cubas, a relatively weak political leader, was merely a puppet for the disgraced General Oviedo. One of Cubas' first acts as president was to grant Oviedo a pardon from prison, defying the Supreme Court. Shortly thereafter, the Chamber of Deputies of Paraguay voted to charge Cubas with abuse of power, and began investigations that would ultimately lead to formal impeachment proceedings. Had Cubas been removed from office, Argaña was set to succeed him as president. However, on the morning of March 23, 1999, assailants ambushed the vice president's vehicle just outside his Asunción home, peppering the SUV with multiple rounds of gunfire before escaping. President Cubas ordered a lockdown of the country's borders. In the wake of the killing and the subsequent riots that took place in the capital area, Cubas' support melted away. The Chamber of Deputies impeached him by an overwhelming margin. Facing all-but-certain conviction and removal from office by the Senate, Cubas resigned on March 28, fleeing the country and seeking and ultimately being granted political asylum in neighboring Brazil. Senate president Luis Ángel González Macchi, who was next in line for the presidency after Argaña's death, served out the balance of Cubas' term. Argaña's assassination has never been fully resolved, but popular theory holds that the ousted General Oviedo (who had been granted asylum in Argentina shortly after his release from prison) masterminded the crime. Although Cubas was generally viewed to be easily manipulated by Oviedo's influence, his impeachment would mean Argaña, one of Oviedo's staunchest political rivals, would become president. The belief that Argaña was assassinated to prevent an Oviedo opponent from running the country was strengthened when Congress sought to extradite the general from Argentina, without success. On October 23, 1999, Pablo Vera Esteche was arrested in Paraguay. He said the murder, for which he and