Armée du pepuple paraguayen — Wikipedia

L’ Army of the Paraguayan people (in Spanish : Paraguayan Army of the People , EPP) is a Marxist-Leninist guerrillas ^{[ first ]} Active in Paraguay since 2008.

Of peasant origin, the army of the Paraguayan people (EPP) appeared during a conflict between the inhabitants of the small town of Kurusu of Hierro, in the center of the country, to a landowner, due to the fumigation of Agrochemical products causing poisoning within families. The guerrillas burned agricultural machinery of the property ^{[ 2 ]} .

The first important military action in the group is the attack on a military post in Tacuati, in the department of San Pedro the December 31, 2008 . Attackers fire the military post and steal the weapons there ^{[ 3 ]} .

The April 24, 2010 , President Fernando Lugo declares the state of exception in three departments of the country to fight the group. He is lifted the May 24, 2010 , at the end of the thirty -day period scheduled, without any arrest of a member of this group ^{[ 4 ]} . In June of the same year, the EPP puts the head of President Lugo, promising a reward of 1,000 $ For whom the president would give him, an offer also valid for other authorities in the country. In the same press release, the group indicates that its date of training is the first ^is mars 2008 , while the authorities bring back much further the existence of the EPP (giving it a 12 -year seniority). According to the Paraguayan authorities, the EPP has obtained 800,000 $ in ransom of two breeders removed during the preceding two years ^{[ 5 ]} . The police announced in July 2020 the death of Severiano Martínez, one of the alleged leaders of the EPP, whom he presented as killed during a confrontation. His body would however have traces of torture and bullets drawn at close range ^{[ 6 ]} .

President Horacio Cards created in 2013 a special unit to combat guerrilla warfare, called fuerza of Tarea Conjunta (FTC) ^{[ 7 ]} .

In 2015, Paraguayan soldiers were sent to Colombia to receive a countertiller training there and thus fight more effectively against the EPP, whose workforce is now assessed by the authorities to more than a hundred combatants ^{[ 8 ] , [ 9 ]} . In addition to its armed fighters, guerrilla warfare also includes logistics networks ^{[ ten ]} .

On August 27, 2016, the EPP, active in the departments of Conceptción and San Pedro, close to the Brazilian border, kills 8 soldiers in an ambush in the department of Conceptción ^{[ 11 ]} .

The September 2, 2020 , two children aged 11 and 12, of Argentine nationality, are killed by the Paraguayan army during an anti-guerrilla operation ^{[ twelfth ]} . In response, the EPP proceeded on September 9 to the removal of the former vice-president of Paraguay, Oscar Denis Sánchez, the action is claimed by the “native brigade” of the EPP ^{[ 13 ]} . An employee of Oscar Denis, who had been removed at the same time as him, was released a few days later. In exchange for the release of the former vice-president, the guerrilla warfare demands the distribution of food for the equivalent of $ 2 million to the native communities of the Department of Conceptción, one of the poorest in the country, and the release of two of its founding members, which the authorities refused ^{[ ten ]} .

The army of the Paraguayan people defines itself as Marxist-Leninist and claims José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, architect of the independence of Paraguay and considered by the insurgents as a revolutionary ^{[ 7 ]} . It rejects the Paraguay economic development model, which is based in particular on large farms held by powerful landowners, who mainly cultivate transgenic soy. According to Galeano Perrone, political analyst and former minister, the guerrilla warfare “enjoys a certain popularity in the poor regions abandoned by the State, and the members of the EPP are often seen as Robin des Bois, which redistribute the riches ^{[ ten ]} . »

The guerrilla warfare is mainly financed by the perception of “revolutionary taxes” with landowners and by kidnappings against ransom of notables. The authorities accused him of participating in drug trafficking, which was however disputed by independent studies ^{[ 7 ]} .

According to an official of the Diocese of Conceptción, the Paraguayan authorities would use the pretext of “terrorism” of EPP to criminalize the whole the economic and social demands of the peasants. Peasant trade unionists are murdered by the army and presented in guerrillas, while families are forced to leave due to military activities and to sell their land to large landowners or to Brazilian companies ^{[ 14 ]} . According to the priest Benjamin Valiente, close to the peasant union movement, “the problem is that the EPP has the same claims as farmers. Against deforestation, against fumigation and hostile to large landowners, the armed organization affirms in its press releases to fight in favor of the people and against the oligarchs. But their actions prejudice us each time. They justify the security and militarization of the region ^{[ 2 ]} . »

The EPP is accused by the courts of Paraguay to maintain links with the FARC, who would have in particular led to some of the members of the EPP to guerrilla techniques ^{[ 15 ]} . The Colombian guerrilla warfare brings a denial to these allegations, explaining that he had no contact with the EPP, but however salutes his fight for the rights of the most disadvantaged ^{[ 16 ]} . The EPP would also have had relations with the Patriotic Front Manuel Rodríguez, a Chilean armed group, from the time when it was active ^{[ ten ]} .