Paraguay Troops Rush to Head Off Angry Crowds at Congress

Troops and armored personnel carriers swept into downtown Asuncion on Friday as hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside Congress to demand the ouster of President Raul Cubas Grau. At least two people were killed and dozens injured, officials said.

Paraguayan television and radio reported that up to 15 armored vehicles sped through the capital, many barreling through red lights.

Shortly after the vehicles were dispatched, Walter Bower, president of Paraguay’s lower house, pleaded with the military to refrain from intervening in the country’s political turmoil. He also promised that the Senate’s impeachment trial for Cubas, scheduled for today, would move forward.

Earlier in the evening, protesters demanding the ouster of Cubas drove riot police from the plaza after a pitched battle of flying rocks, tear gas and water cannons.

Presidential spokesman Luis Canillas confirmed that two teenagers were killed, but he didn’t elaborate. He also said 21 helmeted riot police were among the injured.

The half-hour melee was the biggest outbreak of violence in a four-day crisis that has paralyzed this Latin American country. Business came to a standstill as many residents stayed in their homes to monitor developments on radio and television.

Cubas was impeached by Paraguay’s lower house Wednesday, accused of abuse of power by illegally freeing a controversial former army general from jail.

Cubas’ lawyers are set to defend him when a scheduled Senate trial gets underway today. Lawmakers said the trial will continue through next week.

If convicted by at least two-thirds of the 45-member Senate, Cubas would be stripped of power and replaced by Senate President Luis Gonzalez Macchi.

Tuesday’s ambush slaying of Vice President Luis Maria Argana accelerated efforts to impeach Cubas. Many of Cubas’ opponents in Congress blame him for the political turmoil that preceded the shooting.

For months they have protested his release of controversial former Gen. Lino Oviedo. Oviedo, perceived by many as the strongman behind Cubas’ presidency, was serving a 10-year sentence for attempting to oust President Juan Carlos Wasmosy in April 1996, when he was freed in August by the newly-inaugurated Cubas.