Several hundred people marched July 6 in Asunción, the Paraguayan capital, to demand the acquittal of 11 landless peasants charged in deadly violence almost exactly four years ago in the rural community of Curuguaty. Verdicts are expected this coming week in the bloody incident, which supporters of the defendants call a "massacre." The violence erupted when police moved to evict the peasants from private lands they were occupying. Of the 17 killed, 11 were peasants. In the aftermath, Paraguay's left-populist president Fernando Lugo was removed from power in what his supporters called a "coup." Prosecutors are calling for prison terms of up to 30 years for the defendants, while their supporters say they only acted in self-defense when set upon by police. Alicia Amarilla of the National Coordinator of Rural and Indigenous Women (CONAMURI) called the proceedings a show trial in which "not a shred of evidence" has been presented against the defendants. She said they have been accused "because of their ideology, for having fought for land." (Ultima Hora, July 9; EFE, July 6)
Among the accused is a young man who was a minor at the time of the massacre, and who the Paraguay Human Rights Coordinator (CODEHUPY) says is being tried in violation of international legal norms. (Ultima Hora, July 8)
Paraguay: drug czar steps down after deadly anti-cannabis op
Paraguay's top anti-drug official stepped down after a botched anti-cannabis operation left a three-year-old girl dead at the hands of his troops. Paraguay has seen escalating gunplay in recent months, in an apparent struggle by rival gangs for control of the underground cannabis trade. See full story at Global Ganja Report…