ASUNCION, Paraguay (AP) -- Assassins shot and killed Paraguay's
                  vice president at his office this morning, radio reports and a leading
                  lawmaker said.

                  The radio reports said Luis Maria Argana was entering his office in
                  central Asuncion at 8 a.m. when he was fired on by unidentified assailants.

                  A senator from the ruling Colorado Party, Juan Carlos Galaverna, told
                  reporters that Argana was mortally wounded and died after the shooting.
                  Argana is a former foreign minister and president of the Supreme Court
                  under ex-dictator Alfredo Stroessner.

                  Landlocked Paraguay, which returned to democracy in 1989 after 35 years
                  of dictatorship, is led by President Raul Cubas.

                  The assassination comes a month after Paraguay's congress voted to start
                  impeachment proceedings against Cubas, alleging he violated the constitution
                  by freeing a jailed general.

                  Congress accused Cubas of abuse of power for an August 1998 decree that
                  freed his ally and mentor, former army chief Lino Oviedo. A military tribunal
                  sentenced Oviedo, 55, to 10 years in prison last March for attempting to
                  oust then-President Juan Wasmosy in 1996.

                    Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.