Brazil & Southern Cone - September 2011 (ISSN 1741-4431)

Cousins Carlos and Rafael Filizzola, the current and former Paraguayan ministers of interior respectively, are once again standing on opposite sides of the debate over the appropriate State response to the threat posed by the self-proclaimed Ejército del Pueblo Paraguayo (EPP). While Carlos believes that the military should play support and logistical role only, Rafael, with the benefit of hindsight over the failure of last year’s state of exception to facilitate the capture the group’s leaders, is more inclined towards direct military involvement.

Following a 21 September EPP attack on a police station in the department of Concepción, Rafael announced his presidential aspirations for 2013 and noted that he had not recommended his cousin as his replacement at the helm of the interior ministry, though he did wish him well. His cousin Carlos had backed (failed) moves by President Fernando Lugo to reform the constitution in order to seek a second mandate. That initiative (among other things) is thought to have prompted Rafael’s exit from the cabinet.

The attack on the police station was the second perpetrated by the EPP in a 48-hour period. In the early hours of 19 September, the office of the state prosecutor in the city of Horqueta was also attacked with an explosive device, but there were no casualties. It is thought that the EPP used grenades in addition to high-powered weapons in the second attack. Their intelligence was also good: they attacked the only station that had not received Special Forces (Fope) reinforcements following the first bomb attack, and in which there were just six police officers stationed, armed only with handguns and without any patrol car. Rafael claims that under his ministerial helm the EPP was severely weakened and police training and resources improved. However, he has only been out of the ministry for three months. It’s unlikely that there has been a massive deterioration in police readiness in such a short period. Rafael’s calculated finger-pointing appeared politically-motivated.

On 27 September, following a two-hour debate, the lower chamber of congress postponed “indefinitely” a vote on a declaration of a state of emergency in the northern departments of Concepción and San Pedro. The decision left an earlier senate vote in favour without effect. Notably however, the lower chamber issued a declaration calling for the deployment of the army to fight the EPP.

• Referendum to allow overseas vote

A national referendum on a proposed constitutional reform to allow Paraguayans resident overseas to vote in national elections is scheduled for 9 October.