Explore the vast range of titles available.

The Paraguay lower chamber of congress has voted to impeach President Luis Gonzalez Macchi on five counts of corruption, including the alleged embezzlement of $16 million from the central bank. Senate impeachment hearings would begin on Jan 23, 2003.

He does not think that Cale [Galaverna] wants to replace him for two months. He said he is not angry with Nicanor, because Nicanor does not even want to come near him. \"I am not throwing in the towel nor do I believe they are frying my brain\", President Luis Gonzalez Macchi told reporters yesterday at the Palacio de Lopez [Office of the President]. This was in response to being asked if he has any information about whether the ANR [National Republican Association (Colorado Party)] and National Encounter would be negotiating his anticipated departure. With regard to the report that his political adviser, Agustin Gonzalez Insfran, will be offering bribes to senators to reject impeachment proceedings against him, Gonzalez Macchi said: \"No, no. Gonzalez Insfran does not have permission to enter the Senate. [Cale] will not allow him to enter,\" he said.

President Luis Angel Gonzalez Macchi is not interested in appearing before the Senate to defend himself in the impeachment trial, however he will compel his ministers and other government officials to publicly defend his administration. These same ministers and officials will be called as witnesses and will have to support before the Senate the \"marvellous country\" depicted by the president's defence last Wednesday [29 January]. The impeachment session will resume this morning at 1000 [local time]. The senators will decide whether or not to accept all evidence submitted and will also schedule the days when witnesses will have to testify. The minister of foreign relations, Jose Antonio Moreno Ruffinelli; the minister of finance, Alcides Jimenez; and of health, Jose Mayans, will be compelled to publicly defend the Paraguayan president in the impeachment parody held in Congress.

President Luis Gonzalez Macchi closely watched the beginning of the impeachment proceedings against him in the Senate on 23 January. He met some ministers early in the morning and then monitored the impeachment proceedings on the radio and television. \"I watched everything; it was nice,\" he told journalists when he was leaving Government House. Another impeachment motion was floored in the Lower House against Gonzalez Macchi, this one also involving Justice and Labour Minister Angel Jose Burro. The motion was introduced by former Paraguayan Central Bank official Faustino Paniagua.

According to the committee's advice, the impeachment proceedings could last more than a month, because at least three extraordinary sessions have to be held before a last session is held in which the Senate issues a ruling. The committee also established that after the Chamber of Deputies presents the accusation, the Senate must wait a fortnight before calling a session to hear the arguments of the defence. In this way, they expect to give the executive branch time to assess the accusation and prepare its defence. The Senate's Constitutional Affairs Committee finally approved on 6 January a rules of procedures which establishes a lengthy process to impeach the president of the republic. It dismissed the idea endorsed by pro-Wasmosy [former President Juan Carlos Wasmosy] Senator Miguel Angel Ramirez, who wanted to give [Luis Gonzalez Macchi] a hand by eliminating the accusation against the head of state from the very beginning.

In the wake of formal charges for impeachment filed against Paraguayan President Luis Gonzalez Macchi, sources close to the incumbent administration yesterday told this newspaper that the president may tender his resignation on 23 December. Asked whether the Senate would approve impeachment proceedings, Gonzalez Macchi answered: \"I do not know.\" He also said he has not appointed a defence lawyer yet.

While in the ROC, [Luis Angel Gonzalez Macchi] called on [Chen] and Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pyng, as well as presiding over a ribbon- cutting ceremony for the Paraguay Economic and Trade Office in Taipei. He also visited the ROC-held island of Kinmen.