Brazil & Southern Cone - March 2012 (ISSN 1741-4431)

Amid heightened tensions between peasant farmers and large landowners in Eastern Paraguay, the self-proclaimed Ejército del Pueblo Paraguayo (EPP), a criminal organisation with leftist tendencies, has seized the opportunity to spring back onto the scene, trying to re-brand itself as the defender of poor peasant farmers and the environment.

Following months of inactivity (and no reported sightings), the EPP suddenly claimed responsibility for an attack on the outpost of a cattle ranch near Kurusu de Hierro, in the northern department of Concepción, on 26 February.

According to press reports, four to six masked and armed men entered the ‘Ypotî’ ranch, where they burned a shack and shot cattle on the property’s fringes. Reportedly, upon arrival the attackers woke up the workers inside the shack and questioned them about their identities and activities. They allowed the Paraguayan workers to collect their belongings from the shack before they set fire to it. They did not extend the same courtesy to the Brazilian workers. The attackers left a letter in which they demanded that the ranch owners provide foodstuffs and livestock to a nearby indigenous community or suffer further consequences.

Given the heightened tensions between self-declared Paraguayan landless farmers and large landowners of Brazilian origin (Brasiguayos) in Alto Paraná, the EPP’s discrimination against the Brazilian workers could be seen as an attempt to capitalise on the situation to gain more support from the peasant population. While Concepcion is far from Alto Parana, both departments border Brazil and have significant Brazilian and Brasiguayo populations.

Problematically, the Ypotî ranch borders the ‘Santa Adelia’ ranch, where four people were murdered by the EPP in 2010. At the time authorities found what they presumed to be an EPP camp and consequently identified the surrounding areas as the EPP’s main sphere of influence. This led the government to declare a state of emergency in Concepción in April 2010 and to establish a military outpost in the Kurusu de Hierro-Tacuatí area, which is the operational base for a joint Special Forces mission tasked with tracking down and arresting the EPP members. Despite the heavy security force presence in the area, there has been little progress in finding the EPP.

The 27 February attack marked the beginning of a series attacks on ranches in the surrounding area. On 8 March there was an attack at the ‘Agüerito’ ranch, also in Hugua Ñandu. Following this attack, the press reported that the EPP left a letter in which it appears to spell out a new tactic of targeting affluent agricultural producers which it claims are oppressing the poor (see sidebar). The organisation vows to “retaliate” against the agricultural producers warning that anyone “caught cutting down or fumigating near peasant communities will pay the maximum penalty, as stipulated by the revolutionary laws”.

The authorities claim that they are closely monitoring the EPP, constantly carrying out intelligence work in the area. Nonetheless Concepción’s police chief, Ricardo Caballero, has pointed out that the police have come up against a “lack of collaboration” from the local community, leading police to believe that there “are a lot of people that sympathise with the group”. Incidentally, on 8 March during a visit to Concepción department, President Fernando Lugo was questioned about the authorities’ inability to capture the EPP. Lugo’s whimsical answer was “I would ask that question of the people of Concepción. We have always said that the [national] institutions are not able to deal with all demands”. However he pointed out that his government was “more determined than ever” in its fight against the EPP.

• Sidebar: EPP letter

“The greed of a few is destroying our environment. The contamination of the soils and water is mainly due to the use of poisonous substances in agriculture...the phosphate fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides in reality are the rich landowners’ chemical weapons against the poor... The war has been declared. The hostilities have begun”.