Protests Erupt in Paraguay Over Efforts to Extend President’s Term<br />By SIMON ROMEROMARCH 31, 2017<br />Protesters in Paraguay stormed the Congress and set fire to part of the building on Friday after the Senate voted to amend the<br />Constitution to allow President Horacio Cartes to seek re-election, raising concerns over renewed political instability.<br />The protests stunned some political leaders who were pushing for the amendment, with the lower house of Congress<br />suspending a vote scheduled for the weekend on the measure, according to Paraguayan news reports.<br />"I am calling for harmony." The tension over efforts to amend the Constitution in favor of Mr. Cartes, a conservative tobacco magnate elected<br />to a five-year term in 2013, reveal how Paraguay remains shaken by the 35-year rule of Gen. Alfredo Stroessner from 1954 to 1989.<br />With many Paraguayans distrustful of strong leaders as a result of<br />that period, the 1992 Constitution imposed strong checks on executive power and limited the president to a single five-year term.<br />Meanwhile, Mr. Cartes, 60, issued a statement on Friday night in which he blamed his opponents<br />and the news media for the protests, saying they had "the objective of destroying democracy." Santi Carneri contributed reporting.<br />In a twist, supporters of Mr. Lugo, who is now a senator, have also backed the re-election amendment, spurring speculation<br />that he may stand to benefit from the measure if he mounts a successful bid for the presidency next year.
