Paraguayan Police Evict Peasants, Destroy Homes

Asuncion, Mar 26 (Prensa Latina) More than 200 Paraguayan police with backup helicopter support evicted dozens of peasant families who were occupying a farm in the department of Canindeyu, destroying their homes and crops. The action, which is the latest incident of its kind in the struggle of the landless peasants, took place while indigenous of the Sawhoyamaxa community in the department of Caaguazu, remain firmly seated in their ancestral lands, rejecting the sale made to private buyers. The eviction of the farmers was held at a place known as Sidepar and the large police deployment was accompanied by the prosecutor Jalil Rashid, the same involved in a similar action on June in Curuguaty, where 11 farmers and six policemen were killed. Rachid has been repeatedly challenged by defense lawyers for the peasants imprisoned as a result of that event, due to his close relationship with landowners of the area and is charged with hounding rural families. These incidents with peasants and indigenous peoples, coming almost more than twenty days before the April 21 elections, caused additional protests by progressive organizations and are an indication of the difficult problem of land tenancy in Paraguay. sc/sa/iff/jrr

Modificado el ( martes, 26 de marzo de 2013 )