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Articles / News / World / Paraguayan Gov't Shaken by Rejection of President's Dismissal
Monday, June 25, 2012
Paraguayan Gov't Shaken by Rejection of President's Dismissal
 Asuncion, Jun 25.- Ten days after the expedited removal of President Fernando Lugo by an opposition majority in the Congress, the new Paraguayan government is being shaken by the generalized national and international rejection it faces.
The speed at which events developed in this South American nation now present an unfavorable scenario for the new leader Federico Franco, who has seen growing resistance from broad sectors of Paraguayan society and the foreign community.
Franco's inauguration, which ignores both the virtual proximity of the upcoming presidential elections, and the established procedure for political trials against heads of State, has generated a gradual increase in mass protest.
One outstanding example is the protest staged by public television workers over 48 hours ago. They maintain control over the television channels and opened the microphones to a parade of citizens criticizing the new president.
That action has been supported by hundreds of people who have remained permanently on guard in front of the television headquarters, demanding a return to democracy and repudiating Lugo's replacement.
That situation got substantially worse in the last few hours with the reaction against what has been called a coup d'Etat, from the countries grouped in the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).
Given that the regime is turning a deaf ear to the calls to rectify its actions, the red lights went on within the organizations' democratic charters and their members began to withdraw their ambassadors to the Paraguayan government.
A tough blow also came with MERCOSUR's decision to isolate Paraguay and refuse its participation at the Summit of Heads of State and Government, scheduled for the Argentinian city of Mendoza on Thursday.
The coming weeks will show the political and economic impact of this exclusion of the Paraguayan government by these sub-regional entities. (Prensa Latina).
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