In Paraguay, an activist has been killed in violent clashes over a secret Senate vote to allow President Horacio Cartes to run for another term.

According to the Paraguayan opposition, 25-year-old Rodrigo Quintana died from a rubber bullet that was fired by police when they searched the party’s offices for protesters. He was the leader of the opposition Liberal Party’s youth branch.

The country’s president Horacio Cartes sacked his Interior Minister Tado Rojas and Police Commissioner Crispulo Sotelo following the death of the activist on Saturday.

Thousands of young protesters have taken to the streets to protest a secretly passed bill that lifts presidential term limits. The largest protest resulted in a fire on the first floor of Congress. 

Dozens were injured, including three lawmakers, according to firefighters and an opposition senator. Police said more than 200 people were arrested and some of them minors.

President Cartes has called for calm, and promised the government will do all it can to maintain public order.

Opposition leaders denounced the secretive vote Friday as a "congressional coup," saying it could clear the way for a return to dictatorship in the landlocked South American nation of 6.8 million people.

(Source: agencies)‍

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