Paraguay's president fires military chief

Asuncion, Paraguay

Paraguay's president has unexpectedly fired the country's armed forces chief, and 58 military and police officers, calling it a routine reshuffling of the military high command while dismissing suggestions it was politically motivated.

President Nicanor Duarte did not provide a reason for Sunday's dismissals, aside from saying they were "normal in the institutional life of the military." However, opposition lawmakers had been clamouring for the ouster of the armed forces chief, General Key Kanazawa, for the last year.

Last December, Senators criticised Kanazawa for releasing a signed communique criticising legislators for failing to promote some 300 military officers.