Paraguay's Cartes Replaces Top Officials After Congress Torched
- Demonstrations turned violent after senate approved bill
- Unrest comes amid Inter American Development Bank Meeting
Hundreds of demonstrators protesting against the approval of a constitutional amendment for presidential reelection broke into the Congress building, battering down entrances and fences and shattering windows, and started to set fires inside, in Asuncion on March 31, 2017.Paraguayan senators on Friday approved a contested law allowing President Horacio Cartes to seek reelection in 2018, prompting furious protesters to break into the legislature, ransacking lawmakers' offices and starting fires. / AFP PHOTO / NORBERTO DUARTE (Photo credit should read NORBERTO DUARTE/AFP/Getty Images)
Paraguay President Horacio Cartes replaced his top security officials on Saturday, a day after demonstrators set fire to the South American nation’s congress building to protest a measure that would allow him to run for a second term.
The nation’s police commander and interior minister were removed due to “the latest events” and with the “express order to maximize care to avoid excesses in the use of force,” according to a statement posted on Paraguay’s presidential website. Local newspaper ABC Color reported that protesters had returned to the congressional building, although no more violence was reported.