ASUNCION, Paraguay -- Forces loyal to a fugitive coup leader tried to topple the Paraguayan government, driving tanks through the center of the capital and blasting a hole in the Congress building before being persuaded to lay down their arms and be arrested early today, the government said.
"The situation is totally under control. We are going to be relentless in applying the law to all those who have violated the law and the constitution," President Luis Gonzalez Macchi told a local television channel.Thursday night, a group of light tanks filed past Congress in the center of the capital Asuncion and blew a hole in the building's facade. A Reuters correspondent then heard a burst of light arms fire before the tanks withdrew after an Air Force threat to attack the rebels.
Retired colonels and low-ranking officers who support fugitive former coup-plotter Gen. Lino Oviedo seized control of the army's biggest armored unit, helped by guards at the base on the city outskirts, Defense Minister Nelson Argana said.
The head of Congress said the rebels planned mass murders of political opponents, including the president.
A police unit also joined the revolt aimed at toppling the government in this notoriously corrupt, landlocked country of 5 million people. Paraguay's economy is bolstered by an enormous smuggling industry.
Rebels took control of the barracks at 7 p.m. Thursday but the revolt was all over by 2:30 a.m. today, the government said.
It was the third time in four years that Paraguay's weak democracy has seemed threatened with a relapse into military rule. Each time Oviedo, a former army chief, has been near the center of events and each time the United States, Brazil and Argentina have exerted pressure to ensure democracy survives.
"This is just the beginning. We have the constitutional right to rebel against tyranny," retired Col. Vladimiro Woroniecki, a known Oviedo supporter, told reporters as he was led away under arrest at the end of the revolt.
Security forces arrested a lawyer, a congressman, five retired officers and at least 25 serving soldiers. The head of the police, Casto Guillen, was fired.
The Speaker of Congress, Juan Carlos Galaverna, said documents found on the rebels showed they planned a long list of murders including Gonzalez Macchi and Galaverna himself.
"Have no doubt that this is a new adventure of that psychopath Oviedo," Galaverna told CNN en Espanol.
An anonymous rebel officer had read a communique over the radio calling for Gonzalez Macchi to step down to allow an immediate presidential election.
Former Senate chief Gonzalez Macchi took over as president last year after Raul Cubas, a protege and close friend of Oviedo's, resigned after a week of violence following the assassination of Vice President Luis Maria Argana.
"We have two alternatives: the submission of the Paraguayan people to a new dictatorship, or rebellion which if delayed will inexorably lead to a bloody civil war," the rebel said.
During the tense hours before the revolt ended, the United States and Paraguay's larger neighbors issued statements condemning the violence and warning that any government arising from the coup would face international isolation.
"Any attempt at rupturing institutions will be totally rejected by the United States," said the U.S. Embassy.
Speaking while the revolt was underway, the defense minister said Air Force planes would attack the rebels if they did not surrender. The armed forces' head said he backed the government, and the president decreed a state of emergency.
Unconfirmed radio reports said that Gonzalez Macchi took refuge in a Navy base during the revolt.
Local television reported a brief gun battle between loyal forces and rebels in tanks and showed trucks blocking a bridge on the River Paraguay, their cabins stained by blood. The government said that three people, all civilians, were wounded by gunfire, but there were no details of when or how.
An army colonel who supported the government soon announced an end to the uprising.
"It began to be apparent that the situation was going against the rebels, and with that argument we managed to convince them," said Col. Carlos Socrates Ramirez, adding that he was one of several officers taken hostage by the rebels.
"The tanks are back in their proper place," he said, before inviting reporters to visit the scene of the uprising.
It was a night of chaos in Asuncion, where lights went out after the power was cut following the attack on Congress. Crowds of congressmen and ordinary citizens gathered outside the darkened building to show their support for democracy.
Oviedo has been on the run since December when he abandoned political asylum in Argentina. The former cavalryman has given many interviews from a hiding place he says is in Paraguay.
He is accused of plotting the murder of political rival Argana--father of the current defense minister--in March 1999, after which Cubas was forced to seek asylum in Brazil.
Oviedo was convicted of plotting a coup after holing up in his headquarters in April 1996 in defiance of orders from then-President Juan Carlos Wasmosy to step down as army chief.
Oviedo, like Cubas and Gonzalez Macchi, are all members of the Colorado Party, which has ruled Paraguay without interruption for half a century. Gen. Alfredo Stroessner, Colorado Party dictator for 35 years before his overthrow in a palace coup in 1989, also enjoys asylum in Brazil.