CIA in Paraguay, or How to Get Rid of a President

[Magda Hassan]

Paraguay: Legislators Accused of Narcopolitics Won't Be Removed

The three legislators allegedly held phone conversations with drug-traffickers. (Photo: Twitter)

Published 1 December 2014





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Paraguayan representatives refused to remove their three fellow legislators, despite the evidence presented by the National Anti-Drug Office and the senate.
Three legislators from the governing party Colorado (conservative), accused of being directly linked to criminal groups by the Senate, will still maintain their positions as national representatives, authorities from the Chamber of Deputies informed on Monday.
Despite evidence presented by the National Anti-Drug Office (Senad), legislators ruled that until the Attorney General's Office makes a formal request, they could not be dismissed and investigated.
Newspaper Ultima Hora first revealed allegedly suspicious relationships that Bernardo Villalba, Marcial Lezcano and Freddy D'Ecclesiis had with drug-traffickers. Then the Senate held a public presentation in the Chamber of Deputies, and presented a denunciation before the Public Prosecutor against the three legislators cited in the Senad report.
The evidence essentially consisted in wiretapped conversations with drug-traffickers from the northern part of the country, the Tri-Border Area between Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina, known for being a transnational hub of cocaine.
A journalist investigating these groups was recently assassinated in the region, shortly before the country discovered how much its elites were involved in narcopolitics.
So far the three legislators have denied the accusations, although Villalba admitted that he did defend alleged drug-traffickers as a lawyer.
During an international congress organized by the progressive party Frente Guasu, Juan Pozo Alvarez, a Cuban official from the International Relations Department of the Communist Party, warned that "at all levels, there are people linked with drug-trafficking in the region." He explained that although "we all convert ourselves into victims" of this plague, political parties are often tempted to take part in it and obtain indirect advantages from drug-trafficking, in an "opportunistic fashion."
See more: Social Movements March Against Impunity in Paraguay
Paraguayan Mayor Linked to Murder of Journalist
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