10/30/2022Da Silva wins presidency10/28/2018Bolsonaro elected president09/30/2016Rousseff impeached; Michel Temer assumes presidency09/14/2016Prosecutors file corruption charges against Lula da Silva04/18/2016The House of Representatives impeaches Dilma Rousseff09/07/2014Effects of corruption scandal Operation Car Wash widespread in the government08/18/2011Corruption accusations affecting Rousseff’s administration10/31/2010Dilma Rousseff elected president10/30/2006Lula da Silva wins second term as president06/04/2005Corruption scandal known as Operation Car Wash impacting government10/27/2002Lula da Silva elected president11/13/1998IMF agrees to $41.3 billion bailout for Brazil09/03/1994Fernando Cardoso elected president
06/18/2021Ebrahim Raisi elected president01/02/2020US kills high-ranking Iranian05/08/2019Iran ends some aspects of nuclear agreement04/08/2019US adds sanctions on Iran
10/13/2022New heads of state01/02/2020US kills high-ranking Iranian10/02/2018Abdul Mahdi named prime minister12/08/2017Iraq declares victory over the Islamic State
11/27/2024Ceasefire in Lebanon-Israel conflict12/22/2022Netanyahu forms new government11/03/2022Netanyahu coalition wins election06/20/2022New elections called06/13/2021New coalition government takes office12/22/2020New elections called04/20/2020Agreement on unity government03/26/2020Gantz elected parliament speaker09/17/2019Election produces no majority party
10/31/2021Ruling coalition retains majority09/29/2021Kishida to be prime minister08/25/2020Abe resigns for health reasons07/21/2019Abe reelected with reduced majority
08/01/2021General assumes prime ministership02/01/2021Military resumes control11/09/2020Suu Kyi’s party claims election win10/10/2016Outburst of violence between government and Rohingya Muslim minority
04/07/2022Hadi transfers powers01/05/2021Qatar blockade ended10/09/2018Disappearance of journalist leads to international attention11/04/2017Anti-corruption crackdown
10/24/2023New government formed01/07/2020Sanchez re-elected prime minister04/28/2019Socialists win plurality06/01/2018Socialists eject Rajoy and take control of government
12/08/2024Government falls12/08/2024Government falls01/03/2020US kills high-ranking Iranian12/18/2018US announces withdrawal of troops from Syria09/04/2018Assault on Idlib09/26/2016Government attempt to retake Aleppo.09/09/2016Ceasefire08/24/2016Turkish troops enter Syria.08/23/2016Kurdish truce with Syria.09/30/2015Russia enters war.09/10/2014US bombing Islamic State in Syria01/24/2014Geneva peace conference 201409/25/2013Islamic State increasing in Syria08/20/2013Government accused of using chemical weapons03/18/2011Beginning of unrest in Syria that leads to civil war05/21/2008Negotiations with Israel about Golan Heights05/29/2007Bashar al-Assad re-elected10/28/2005Preliminary UN report on Syrian responsibility for murder of Lebanon’s Rafik Hariri03/06/2005Syrian intelligence officers begin to leave Lebanon06/09/2000Hafez al-Assad dies11/12/1970Hafez al-Assad takes power
11/21/2021Ruling party reelected12/07/2020Ruling oalition wins legislature01/05/2020Chaos in National Assembly election08/18/2017Constitutional assembly assumes the powers of the legislature.12/06/2015Opposition wins legislature
Peña wins 42.7% of the vote, well ahead of Alegre, who won about 27%.
04/30/2023
General election. Main candidates are centrist opposition leader Efrain Alegre of the Concertacion coalition and current President Santiago Peña of the Colorado Party. Alegre has suggested he might switch diplomatic recognition to China from Taiwan. A new president will have to negotiate terms about the Itaipú hydroelectric dam with Brazil. Though Brazil gets more power from it because it invested more money, Paraguay would more energy to sell on the open market.
03/01/2022
A massive cloud of ash blown from wildfires in Argentina engulfs capital Asunción and southern Paraguay.
02/24/2022
Benitez fires head of National Emergency Agency, Joaquin Roa, after it is revealed he bought a yacht from a drug trafficker.
02/22/2022
President Abdo Benitez fires Interior Minister Arnaldo Giuzzio due to ties to a drug trafficker.
03/08/2021
Protests against the government and calls for Benitez to resign for the weak response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is now surging. Paraguay has received few doses of vaccine, the health minister has resigned, and hospitals are overwhelmed and running out of supplies.
05/19/2020
Paraguay has about 800 cases and 11 deaths due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Protests about economic inequality have led the government to institute a process it calls “state reform.”
03/30/2020
Government announces that it will act to improve the quality of public spending and reduce the number of public employees.
03/16/2020
Paraguay has instituted stay-at-home order, and closed borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
01/22/2020
Pres Mario Abdo Benítez is confirmed to have dengue fever amid a nationwide outbreak
06/16/2019
Power is lost in all of Argentina and parts of Uruguay and Paraguay. It is mostly restored by the end of the day.
01/10/2019
Paraguay cuts diplomatic relations with Venezuela.
09/26/2018
Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Paraguay, joined by Canada, submit a complaint against Venezuela with the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
09/05/2018
Government returns its Israel embassy to Tel Aviv as Benitez moves to reset its Middle East policy.
04/23/2018
Benitez elected president
Abdo Benitez of the Colorado Party elected president with about 46% of the vote. Efrain Alegre of the liberal opposition alliance is second with 43%.
