Weekly Report - 29 August 2013 (WR-13-34)

President Horacio Cartes stressed in his inaugural address on 15 August that he would not allow the guerrilla group Ejército del Pueblo Paraguayo (EPP) to “dictate the agenda”. Just one week later his first meaningful action as head of state was a direct response to the EPP which had thrown down the gauntlet by invading an estate and killing five security guards [WR-13-33]. Cartes signed a decree granting him a free hand to deploy the armed forces to tackle internal security threats as he sees fit. It sailed through congress despite the protestations of the left-wing opposition. Cartes also put up a US$1m reward for information leading to the capture of EPP members.