Paraguay President Horacio Cartes has sacked his interior minister and the chief of police after violent protests against a bill that would allow him to run for office a second time.
Protests in Paraguay, against the amendment to the Constitution releasing the presidential reelection of the President, turned violent at the Friendship Bridge in Ciudad Del Este. Photo: AFP
While the capital city Asuncion had calmed down the day after Paraguay's Congress was stormed and set on fire, protests could resume if the lower house votes on the amendment next week.
The violent upheaval punctured a period of relative stability under Cartes, in which the soy and beef exporting nation became one of South America's fastest-growing economies and began to move past a long history of political uncertainty.
Rodrigo Quintana, 25, was killed by a rubber bullet fired by police who entered the headquarters of the Liberal Party, the country's second-largest, opposition politicians and a federal prosecutor said.
Felicita de Quintana, the mother of Rodrigo Quintana, 25, who was shot dead on the eve during a protest against the approval of a constitutional amendment for presidential reelection, mourns during his funeral in Asuncion. Photo: AFP
About 200 protesters were detained but many have since been released.
Political leaders on Saturday paid their respects to the dead man. His body was laid out at the headquarters of the opposition Liberal party in the capital, Asuncion.
They condemned the killing and called for an investigation into his death.
The protesters had taken to the streets following a private meeting of 25 senators - a slight majority of the house - which approved a bill to amend the constitution.
Paraguay President Horacio Cartes Photo: AFP
Opposition senator Desiree Masi called the move a coup and called on supporters to resist it.
"It was an exaggerated reaction but this is what President Cartes and his friends who provoked the re-election amendment wanted," said Pablo Noguera, a 25-year-old student.
"This goes against the Constitution and now they want to do everything in the dark."
The Paraguayan Congress was damaged by protesters. Photo: AFP
The current constitution, which limits the head of state to a single five-year term, was created in 1992 in response to military general Alfredo Stroessner, who seized power and ruled from 1954 to 1989.
The bill must also be approved by the other house of parliament - the chamber of deputies - where President Cartes' party holds a majority.
President Cartes' term is due to end in 2018.
- BBC / Reuters
