ASUNCION, Paraguay – Paraguay's Congress has given President Horacio Cartes new powers to use the military within the country.
With solid majorities in both the House and Senate, the Colorado Party and its allies agreed with the president's request to send troops to fight armed leftists in the country's northern jungles without first getting a formal state of emergency declaration from Congress.
A state of emergency is usually required whenever constitutional rights are suspended, since Paraguay's charter says the military can only be used against foreign threats or to protect government stability.
Now Cartes is free to send the military to do police work as long as he reports to Congress about it within two months.
