Angry protesters in Paraguayan capital Asuncion stormed the National Congress building and put it on fire in protest against senators’ closed-door vote to allow President Horacio Cartes to run for re-election.
The opposition crowd was on Friday confronted by police wielding water hoses. They stormed the legislature, broke windows and fences.
The demonstrators managed to storm the first floor of the Congress after breaching the poorly armed police lines. The rioters then set fire to papers and chairs causing the flames to spread throughout the floor.
The building was eventually cordoned off by police after the entire ground floor burned down.
According to media reports, some MPs were still inside the building.
“We guarantee that the police will not repress [you] again. We ask you not to break down the fences, not to try to enter the Congress building,” Police Commander Crisis Sotelo said in a desperate plea to the rioters. “We ask for calm, tranquility,” he said.
Several politicians, including Senate Speaker Roberto Acevedo and journalists, were among the wounded.
Local media said several people were hurt by rubber bullets. Among those were former Interior Minister Rafael Filizzola of the opposition Popular Democratic Party, and Efrain Alegre, the presidential candidate from Authentic Radical Liberal Party.
