Latin America: Week in Review, Paraguay

Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo Sends 1,000 Troops and Police To Suppress Rebel Group

April 27, 2010 By Staff
Lugo

Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo.

Today in Latin America

Top Story — Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo sent an additional 1,000 troops and police Monday to the country’s borders with Brazil and Bolivia to track down an armed left-wing guerrilla group.

The country’s congress granted the Lugo administration special powers to hunt down the Paraguayan People’s Army (EPP), a group linked to Colombia’s FARC guerrillas and who are blamed for an attack that killed four people last week.

“The concrete objective is to allow the military to undertake armed operations, which wouldn’t be possible without (the special powers),” Lugo said, according to Reuters.

The constitutional order from the Paraguayan Congress declared a 30-day emergency for a five-state region where the EPP is suspected to operate and allows Lugo to order arrests and the transfer of suspects without court approval.

Earlier this year Paraguayan soldiers were deployed to this region to aid local police forces in combating the EPP, who are also allegedly involved with marijuana cultivation in Paraguay.

The EPP, which is suspected to have about 100 members, traces its origins to trainee priests in 1992. The group advocates for socialist revolution.

Just Published at the Latin America News Dispatch

Headlines from the Western Hemisphere

North America

Caribbean

  • Haitian President René Préval said the country would need international aid to organize future elections.
  • Government supporters insulted Cuba’s Ladies in White for seven hours, during a protest to free political prisoners accused of collaborating with Washington against the revolutionary government. The protest was held during the country’s municipal elections, in which more than 94 percent of eligible voters participated, according to Cuban state media.

Central America

Andes

Southern Cone

Image: Fernando Lugo APC @ Flickr.

Subscribe to Today in Latin America by Email