by Natalia Ruiz Díaz
School of the America’s Watch
(IPS) – Military troops and extra police are being deployed in northern Paraguay after a state of emergency was declared to crack down on an armed rebel group that calls itself the Paraguayan People’s Army (EPP).
As part of Operation Py’a Guapy — “tranquility” in the Guaraní indigenous language — 3,300 Paraguayan army, navy and air force troops along with 300 national police officers have been sent to the northern provinces of Concepción, San Pedro, Amambay, Presidente Hayes and Alto Paraguay. On Sunday, Apr. 25, President Fernando Lugo signed into law a bill declaring a state of emergency in the conflict zone, which encompasses five of the country’s 17 provinces.
According to government security agencies, these are the provinces where the EPP is active. Its roughly 100 members operate in remote, inaccessible forested areas, with the support of high technology equipment, where there is little or no police protection.
The emergency measures have been condemned by civil society organisations and met with reticence by the political opposition, but Lugo insists that they are needed to restore peace and security to the area of the country affected.
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