ASUNCION, Paraguay -- Stung by a brutal overnight battle between riot troops and protesters that left at least five dead, Paraguay's Senate on Saturday raced ahead with the impeachment trial of President Raul Cubas as a mob of protesters chanted and prayed nearby.
Political opponents and the majority of Paraguayans blame the president for the overnight deaths and for last week's assassination of Vice President Luis Maria Argana. Opposition senators said they hoped he might be removed from office as early as Monday."The president now has no moral authority to continue guiding the country," insisted Blas Llano, an opposition senator, as marines and armored personnel carriers cordoned off the congressional plaza, littered with trash and the charred remains of bonfires.
Cubas backers and even some opposition members, however, questioned whether the embattled president could receive justice in a rushed two-day impeachment trial.