MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Paraguay formally accuses Venezuela of interference and orders ambassador home

Allegedly Maduro met with the top Paraguayan military and demanded they support Lugo

Paraguay's new government ordered home its ambassador in Venezuela after accusing President Hugo Chávez government of meddling in an attempt to avert the impeachment of the Paraguayan president last month.

The swift impeachment of Paraguay's former President Fernando Lugo drew strong criticism from left-leaning governments in South America. Chávez ordered Venezuela's ambassador to leave Paraguay and halted oil shipments in protest.

Paraguay's new defence minister, Maria Liz Garcia, has accused Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro of participating in a meeting with senior Paraguayan military officials during the two-day process that removed Lugo.

Garcia, who was appointed by President Federico Franco, said several days ago she had information that Maduro had urged the military officials to intervene to stop Lugo from being removed from office by Congress.

Maduro dismissed the accusations last week.

Garcia made her statement on Wednesday before a prosecutor who has opened an investigation.

Citing “the grave evidence of intervention by Venezuelan officials in the internal affairs of Paraguay,” the Foreign Ministry ordered its ambassador to leave Caracas.

Earlier this week, Franco's government gave journalists copies of security camera footage showing Maduro walking down a corridor in the presidential palace. Other images showed military chiefs, but there were no pictures of them meeting.

Landlocked Paraguay with a long history of political instability and military rule, making accusations of military meddling is a highly sensitive subject.

Maduro travelled to Asuncion the day before Lugo's was removed from the presidency after a hearing that lasted hours. He went as part of a delegation of foreign ministers from countries belonging to the UNASUR regional grouping.

The Union of South American Nations and regional trade bloc Mercosur have suspended Paraguay from both organizations until elections are held next year.

President Franco has pledged to comply with the electoral calendar with elections next April and the swearing in ceremony of the elected president in August 2013.

An Organization of American States mission that visited Paraguay for on the ground fact-finding will deliver its report to the OAS Permanent Council next Monday.