Paraguayan President Forced to Quit

ASUNCION, Paraguay--The longest ruling leader in the Western Hemisphere was asked to leave the country yesterday after an army faction seized power in this capital of 90,000, according to a spokesperson for the opposition.

Paraguyan President Gen. Alfredo Stroessner was ousted in an uprising that began late Thursday when tanks backed by the number two military commander, Gen. Andres Rodriguez, fired on the headquarters of the police and the presidential guard.

Rodriguez was sworn in as president yesterday in a coup that reportedly left scores dead. He was cheered by several thousand citizens as he took the oath of office and swore in a Cabinet.

About 15,000 people accompanied him to the Colorado Party headquarters and cheered again when he appointed Juan Ramon Chaves as party president, replacing pro-Stroessner militant Sabino Montonaro.

Rodriguez, a member of a faction that supports democratic reforms, said nothing about elections nor how long his provisional presidency would last. He spoke at his swearing-in ceremony and in a nationwide address hours earlier in which he declared he was "taking command of the country from this moment."

There was no immediate word on casualties.

In an earlier statement, Rodriguez did not mention specific goals or motivations or specify whether he was acting against Stroessner personally.

"Dear countrymen, appreciated comrades of the armed forces, we have left our barracks in defense of the dignity and the honor of the armed forces, for the full and total unification of the ruling Colorado Party, for the initiation of democratization in Paraguay, for the respect of human rights and for the defense of our Roman Catholic religion."

Diplomats and political sources said earlier Thursday that Rodriguez for undetermined reasons apparently was ordered to give up his command and retire, or accept the post of defense minister. He refused.

Residents deserted downtown Ascuncion streets Thursday when firefights involving cannon, recoilless rifles and heavy machine guns broke out in the most serious incident against Stroessner since he took power.

The revolt by the army's biggest and best-armed corps appeared to catch Stroessner, who is also the army commander, by surprise.

Some residents fled their homes, and witnesses reported seeing 40 to 50 tanks rumble downtown, where exchanges of gunfire continued past midnight.

The coup comes as Stroessner is in ill health following surgery for a prostate operation five months ago.

The revolt follows a festering dispute within the ruling Colorado Party between a militant pro-Stroessner faction and traditionalists who want to distance the 100-year-old party from the unpopular, authoritarian general.

The military and the Colorado Party control nearly all facets of life in the California-sized nation of nearly 4 million between Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina.

Stroessner toppled Federico Chaves in 1954. The last unrest in the military occurred in 1962, when a cadet was slain outside the capital.