Paraguay army chief sacked amid coup rumors

ASUNCION (AFP) - – President Fernando Lugo sacked the head of Paraguay's armed forces on Friday, two days after firing a trio of top military commanders amid rumors of a potential coup, government sources said.

Rear Admiral Ciber Benitez had been sacked and replaced by General Juan Oscar Velazquez, a former army commander and Lugo loyalist, an official statement said.

Lugo, a former Catholic bishop who assumed office in August 2008, fired his army, navy and air force commanders on Wednesday, a day after claiming there were "pockets of coup-plotters" in the armed forces.

It is the fourth time that Lugo has juggled the top military brass since he came to office 15 months ago at the head of a leftist government, ending 61 years of rule by Paraguay's Conservative Party.

Benitez, who was to retire in December, denied on Thursday that a coup was brewing and came out in defense of his fired colleagues.

The changes in the military come as the president's opponents in Congress hope to gather a two-thirds majority to constitutionally remove him from office.

Critics say Lugo, 58, has failed to tackle a crime wave that has seen a string of kidnappings and robberies in Paraguay, as well as alleged corruption in his administration.

Lugo's support base has been eroding since a paternity scandal erupted earlier this year in which three women claim he fathered their children while he was a priest. In May, he admitted responsibility for one of the children.

One of the women, Hortensia Moran, filed a paternity claim in court Thursday against Lugo on behalf of her two year-old son.

A statement issued by the president's office said the changes at the top of the military were part of a "normal and legal administrative process" that should not reflect poorly on the officers.

Lugo has the authority to make the changes "and there is no reason they should be the subject of speculation," the statement read.

But a former armed forces commander, retired general Bernardino Soto Estigarribia, told ABC the fired officers had been "humiliated" and tarred with the stigma of being "coup plotters."

The move "shows a lack of respect towards the... members of the armed forces," Soto said.

Velazquez, the new armed forces commander, is a native of the impoverished department of San Pedro, where Lugo worked as bishop for 10 years.

Paraguay, surrounded by Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia, has a population of three million and is one of the poorest nations in South America.

Democracy was restored in 1989 at the end of the 35-year dictatorship of General Alfredo Stroessner.

There was an attempted coup in 1996, and the country's vice-president was murdered in 1999.