Coup Claims As Paraguay President Removed
Paraguay's Congress has removed President Fernando Lugo from office after a rapid impeachment trial - which he said was tantamount to a coup but pledged to accept.
Mr Lugo was found guilty of mishandling armed clashes over a land eviction in which 17 police and peasant farmers were killed last week.
In line with Paraguay's constitution, he was quickly replaced by Vice President Federico Franco, a fierce opponent of the president. The centrist Liberal Party politician was sworn in on Friday evening.
Mr Lugo, a former Roman Catholic bishop who quit the Church to run for president on a social reform programme, said: "Although the law's been twisted like a fragile branch in the wind, I accept Congress' decision."
Mr Lugo, who compared his sudden impeachment to a coup, also urged supporters to ensure any demonstrations in his support were peaceful.
Several thousand of his supporters gathered outside Congress in the sleepy capital Asuncion and tried to break through police lines as the verdict was given. Police fired teargas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.
The Senate voted 39-4 to remove Mr Lugo the day after lawmakers in the lower house agreed in a sudden, near-unanimous vote to impeach him.
Mr Lugo, 61, a mild-mannered leftist who speaks the Guarani Indian language, vowed to champion the needs of poor Paraguayans when he was elected four years ago.
His election ended six decades of rule by the Colorado party in one of South America's poorest and most unstable countries.
The speed of the impeachment trial raised concerns among other governments in the region and they dispatched their foreign ministers to Asuncion. Some warned of possible sanctions if Mr Lugo was ousted.
Mr Lugo's election raised expectations among his supporters that he would tackle rampant corruption and gaping income inequalities in the soy-exporting nation of six million people.
However, he has struggled to carry out his reform agenda, including his promise to redistribute land to peasant farmers, due to the opposition's tight grip on Congress.
nor easter ted nugent veep los angeles kings earth day timothy leary jonathan frid

