Paraguay hit by riots after secret vote

BARRICADES: Paraguay’s congress building was set on fire after lawmakers voted to overturn a ban on presidential re-election PROTESTERS stormed and set fire to Paraguay’s congress after the senate secretly voted for a constitutional amendment that would allow President Horacio Cartes to run for re-election.

The country’s constitution has prohibited re-election since it was passed in 1992 after a brutal dictatorship fell in 1989.

“A coup has been carried out. We will resist and we invite the people to resist with us,” said senator Desirée Masi from the opposition Progressive Democratic Party.

Police in riot gear fired teargas and rubber bullets. Several politicians and journalists were injured.

Firefighters managed to control the flames but protests and riots continued in other parts of Asuncion and elsewhere in the country well into Friday night.

In Venezuela, the chief prosecutor condemned a decision by the supreme court to shut down parliament, echoing concerns that the troubled country was sliding further towards dictatorship.

Protesters took to the streets, blocking motorways and chanting for President Nicolás Maduro’s removal after the pro-government court ruled the National Assembly was “in contempt” of the country’s laws. — AFP