Paraguay leader sacks chief of armed forces
Fernando Lugo
Lugo  a former Catholic bishop who assumed office in August 2008  sacked Rear Admiral Ciber Benitez. He will be replaced by General Juan Oscar Velazquez  a former army commander and a Lugo confidant  an official statement said.
 Lugo fired his army  navy and air force commanders on Wednesday  a day after claiming there were "pockets of coup-plotters" in the armed forces.
 Opponents accuse Lugo of styling himself after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in his focus on helping the poor in this land-locked South American country.
 Lugo's opponents in Congress are hoping to gather a two-thirds majority to remove him from office under the constitution.
 Opponents say that Lugo has been incompetent in failing to focus on a crime wave that includes kidnappings and robbery  as well as administrative improprieties.
 Lugo's support base has been eroding under a growing scandal in which three women claim he fathered their children while he was a priest. In May  he admitted responsibility for one of the children.
Lugo  a former Catholic bishop who assumed office in August 2008  sacked Rear Admiral Ciber Benitez. He will be replaced by General Juan Oscar Velazquez  a former army commander and a Lugo confidant  an official statement said.
 Lugo fired his army  navy and air force commanders on Wednesday  a day after claiming there were "pockets of coup-plotters" in the armed forces.
 Opponents accuse Lugo of styling himself after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in his focus on helping the poor in this land-locked South American country.
 Lugo's opponents in Congress are hoping to gather a two-thirds majority to remove him from office under the constitution.
 Opponents say that Lugo has been incompetent in failing to focus on a crime wave that includes kidnappings and robbery  as well as administrative improprieties.
 Lugo's support base has been eroding under a growing scandal in which three women claim he fathered their children while he was a priest. In May  he admitted responsibility for one of the children.