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Fistfights Erupt in Bolivian Congress


Opposition lawmakers in the Bolivian Congress have exchanged blows with pro-government legislators in an ongoing dispute over control of the nation's judicial branch.

Fistfights broke out Wednesday as opposition lawmakers tried to stop their rivals from bringing charges against the nation's highest court for suspending four of President Evo Morales's judicial appointees.

Lawmakers from Mr. Morales's party later voted to approve the charges.

Separately, an Assembly rewriting Bolivia's constitution has suspended its work indefinitely due to violent protests in the southern city of Sucre over a proposal to move the seat of government there from La Paz.

Critics say moving the capital to Sucre would cost the impoverished country billions of dollars and divide the nation.

Sucre was Bolivia's capital during the 19th century but lost the executive and legislative branches of government to La Paz following a brief civil war in the late 1890s. Sucre, however, is still home to Bolivia's highest courts.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

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