Paraguay's police chief, interior minister fired in wake of riots

Paraguay's President Horacio Cartes on Saturday fired the country's Interior Minister Tadeo Rojas and Police Commander Crispulo Sotelo, after a night of violent riots protesting a Constitutional amendment to allow presidential reelection.

Rioting broke out Friday in the capital Asuncion and other cities, after news spread that Senate members had quietly met to approve an unpopular amendment to prolong a president's hold on the nation's top office.

In the capital, police used water cannons and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd, injuring some.

With Asuncion currently hosting the annual meeting of the board of governors of the Inter-American Development Bank, Cartes was quick to take action, and immediately filled both posts.

Newly-appointed Interior Minister Lorenzo Dario Lezcano said one of his first tasks will be to identify those responsible for the riots, which left one young political activist dead and the congress building in shambles after it was set on fire.

The fatal victim, identified as Rodrigo Quintana, of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party (PLRA), "was presumably assassinated by police inside" the party's headquarters, the Paraguay news website said, adding he was shot once in the head and eight times in the chest.

The new police chief, Luis Rojas, tried to calm public anger by lamenting Friday's outbreak of violence and saying the police were there to serve everyone, not just the government.

The intensity of the protests has taken legislators from both the ruling right-wing party and the left-wing opposition -- who gave the amendment bipartisan support -- by surprise.

Paraguay only recently emerged from the oppressive rule of dictator Alfredo Stroessner (1954-1989), and many are wary of a return to tyranny.

Later in the day, the president of the Senate, Roberto Acevedo, called on lawmakers to withdraw the bill "to bring back the peace and tranquility of the citizenry," according to the daily Ultima Hora. Endit