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Referring to this episode, on the documentary appendix of his book 'Morinigo' pp. 230, Dr. A. Bordon quotes the testimony of an ex-minister and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces under Gen. Morinigo.

   "The meeting -he says- was attended by sixteen chiefs, out of whom only Gen. H. Morinigo, Col. E. Diaz de Vivar and Lt. Col. E. Gimenez voted for the Colorados to stay in office. (option 2)
   The other thirteen: Gen. V. Machuca, Gen. F. Andino, Gen. A. Pampliega, Gen. A. Migone, Col. E. Facetti, Col. J. Ibarrola, Col. J. Cartes, Col. M. Villasboa, San. Col. M. Rodriguez, Lt. Col. Alfredo Stroessner, Nav. Capt. S. Gill, Nav. Capt. J. Blanco Sanchez and Intendency Gen. M. Contrera, approved the institution of a military government. (option 1)

   On January 13, 1947, the Colorado Party responded to the Armed Forces' resolution with an exceptionally popular mobilization that converged in Asuncion, demanding the retention of the Colorados.
   It tried to avoid the imminent civil war by offering free elections in six months and consulting the Liberals' Directorate to prevent them from joining the revolt; also, even through the radio stations the Liberals were asked to not engage in the military insurrection. Coloradismo opposed the putsch conducted by the very Armed Forces' Commander in Chief Gen. V. Machuca.
   Almost everything was done in the pursuit of democracy, but in vain.

   The reaction to those efforts was the civil war. On March 7, 1947, we had the assault on the Capital Police Department by Febreristas' gangs, and on March 8 the rebellion of the Concepcion Military Region which a few days later joined the forces of the Chaco Military Zone. Finally on April 27, 1947, the uprising of the Navy (Marina) took place. (16)

   The Colorado Party did not need the civil war because there was little chance for it to win, it had to fight about 90% of the Armed Forces supported by the Liberal, Febrerista and Comunista parties.
   The best chance for a party like ours formed by widespread popular masses, was undoubtedly in the peaceful solution: the elections ... in democracy.
   That's why it should be emphasized that the civil war of 1947 was imposed to Coloradismo without any option left to it.
   We, Colorados did not provoke that war, but we did concede it as a challenge of the political intolerance to our concerns for decades, to control the anarchy and reconstruct out of its ashes our country's freedom.
   Simultaneous to the warfare, we had a massive employees' desertion from the public administration, the official banking and state enterprises along with numerous chiefs and officers from the military including the new Commander in Chief Col. Federico Smith, a Chaco hero and leader of the '36 revolution. The impacts of the psychological war overwhelmed him. The bullets would'nt have affected him a bit.
   To top it off, the two cannoneer ships (Paraguay and Humaita) that the government had for repair in Bs Aires-Argentina, were seized there by the rebels.
   The Colorado Party had to make up for all the civilian and military vacancies, besides having to put 22000 men up in their arms. Reserve officers -Chaco heroes among them- were reincorporated to command the civilian population (most peasants) into organizing the Colorado army.
   Not many political organizations are able to carry out such a mobilization: a true miracle.

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THE CIVIL WAR OF 1947