Deep divisions, disillusionment linger after failed power play in Paraguay.
| Autor | Gaudin, Andres |
In the last week of March, the two biggest names in Paraguayan politics--President Horacio Cartes and his predecessor, Fernando Lugo (2008-2012)--used all the power at their disposal to force their way into next year's general election despite being constitutionally barred from competing. They failed, leaving the country submerged in chaos and compromising its precarious stability.
To seek a second term, Cartes and Lugo would have to either ignore or amend an imprecise, 35word section in the Constitution known as Article 229. Lugo and half of the country's constitutional lawyers argue that Lugo should be allowed to seek a new term because he is not the sitting president. Cartes and the rest of the legal experts say the text should be amended so that the current leader can also run again (NotiSur, Dec. 9, 2016).
The situation came to a head when lawmakers from both sides formed an alliance to force an amendment through and "correct" the Constitution. The conspiring senators hail from the governing Asociacion Nacional Republicana-Partido Colorado (National Republican Association-Colorado Party, ANR-PC), from a sector of the opposition Partido Liberal Radical Autentico (Authentic Liberal Radical Party, PLRA), and from Lugo's Frente Guasu (Guasu Front, FG) coalition.
As a first step, on March 28, the group carried out a "mini-coup" by approving rules changes that would allow them to force a vote on the proposed amendment despite opposition by the Senate president, the person normally responsible for deciding which items can go to the full Senate floor. As a next step, on March 31, the same lawmakers met in secret outside Congress and, with 25 of the Senate's 45 members present, pushed the amendment through to the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Congress.
When word of the development went public, a crowd of approximately 2,000 people gathered outside the Congress building in Asuncion, the Paraguayan capital. A smaller group advanced toward the building, making it past a large but suspiciously passive security force.
Within a few minutes, the offices of the senators were literally destroyed as flames partially engulfed the building's first three floors. Afterwards, and without having intervened or arrested a single one of the attackers, the police turned their attention to the street protesters, who then stormed the PLRA's central headquarters, where a 25-year-old party activist, Rodrigo Quintana, was killed. The chaos continued in the...
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