Editing Nicanor Duarte (section)

=== Political career ===
After [[1989 Paraguayan coup d'état|the fall of Alfredo Stroessner]] in 1989, Duarte got more involved in politics and started climbing up the ladder of the Colorado Party throughout the 1990s. He became Vice Minister of Education during the [[Andrés Rodríguez (politician)|Rodríguez]] administration and was later appointed Minister of Education by President [[Juan Carlos Wasmosy]] in 1993.

Duarte became an opponent of [[army general]] and ''colorado'' ''[[caudillo]]'' [[Lino Oviedo]], who led [[1996 Paraguayan coup attempt|a failed coup]] against Wasmosy in 1996. His opposition to Oviedo drifted Duarte increasingly closer to the general's main rival, [[Luis María Argaña]], who led his own faction within the party, the ''Colorado Reconciliation Movement''. In 1997 Duarte left the Ministry of Education to instead be Argaña's running mate in the Colorado Party [[Partisan primary|primaries]], held to elect the party's nominee for president in the [[1998 Paraguayan general election|1998 election]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Cuarta victoria consecutiva de Nicanor en las elecciones - Política - ABC Color |url=https://www.abc.com.py/edicion-impresa/politica/cuarta-victoria-consecutiva-de-nicanor-en-las-elecciones-887210.html |access-date=2024-02-03 |website=www.abc.com.py |language=es}}</ref> In an effort to unite the party, Argaña became the running mate of the ''oviedista'' [[Raúl Cubas Grau|Raúl Cubas]], who won the election.

In March 1999 Vice President Argaña was assassinated. This sparked rage and fear of another coup by Oviedo, which led to [[Marzo paraguayo|large protests]] that eventually made Cubas resign. The ''argañista'' [[Luis Ángel González Macchi|Luis González Macchi]] was sworn in as president and quickly appointed Duarte back to the Ministry of Education. Duarte inherited Argaña's political faction and clout, effectively becoming his successor. In 2001 he resigned as Education Minister to become president of the Colorado Party.