Violence erupts over secret vote in Paraguay

President fires interior minister, top police official

ASUNCION, Paraguay — President Horacio Cartes fired Paraguay’s interior minister and top police official in the killing of a young opposition party leader, a death that came amid violent clashes overnight sparked by a secret Senate vote for a constitutional amendment to allow presidential re-election.

Cartes said Saturday that Interior Minister Tadeo Rojas and national police chief Crispulo Sotelo had been let go.

Rodrigo Quintana, 25, was killed at the headquarters of a liberal youth activist group, a different location than the Congress building, where most of the violence occurred.

Demonstrators set fires around the legislative building after the Senate approved a constitutional amendment to allow presidents to run more than once in a country still haunted by the 35-year rule of Gen. Alfredo Stroessner.

Authorities said Saturday that at least one person, Quintana, was killed in an incident at an opposition party headquarters away from Congress after the vote that some members of the opposition criticized as irregular.

Dozens of other people, including a police officer, were arrested Friday evening in demonstrations that saw protesters break through police lines and enter the first floor of the legislature, setting fire to papers and furniture. Police used water cannon and fired rubber bullets to drive demonstrators away from the building while firefighters extinguished blazes inside.

The protests broke out after a majority of Paraguayan senators approved the constitutional amendment allowing for presidential reelection. Some opposition members said the move was illegal because the vote was taken without all members of the senate present.

Jorge Saenz The Associated Press People ram a barrier into the congress building during clashes between police and protesters Friday in Asuncion, Paraguay.