Paraguay congress building riots – CWEB.com
The Congress building was alight for more than two hours, and the rioting has been described as the worst violence since Paraguay became a democracy.
Protesters have stormed Paraguay’s Congress building and set it on fire amid violent demonstrations over a secret Senate vote earlier in the day to approve a bill that would allow President Horacio Cartes to run for re-election.
Television images showed protesters breaking the glass windows of the South American country’s Congress on Friday after several hours of escalating violence and confrontations with police.
The vote took place during a special session held in a closed office in Congress rather than on the Senate floor.
Opponents of the measure, who claim it would weaken the country’s democratic institutions, said the vote was illegal. Protesters who marched in front of the Congress building in Asuncion were met by police wielding water hoses and firing rubber bullets.
“A coup has been carried out. We will resist and we invite the people to resist with us,” said Senator Desiree Masi from the opposition Progressive Democratic Party.