Up to the neck with the royal piss

Lugo wasn’t ousted just because of a bloody land eviction. He was ousted because his most important ally, the Liberal Party, simply pulled back its political support and then, in less than 48 hours, Lugo himself was "evicted" from the Chair of Lopez.

Taking some perspective on the subject.

After the aforementioned land eviction, Lugo made two strongly criticized designations.

First, he appointed the former General Attorney (from the Colorado Party) as Ministry of Interior. Secondly, he appointed the very police officer, who was in charge of the also aforementioned bloody land eviction, as chief of the National Police.

Inmediately, the Liberal Party protested and demanded that a liberal politician should have been appointed as Ministry of the Interior and the liberals also demanded the head of the chief of police.

Lugo’s reply was a typical one, as he used to do since he arrived into office. Publicly, he said that, before granting his allies' demands, he would wait and see the performance of his new cabinet member and of his new Chief of Police. The message for the liberals wasn’t new. Lugo humiliated the liberals over and over again along the last four years.

But for the liberals, Lugo's public speech was the drop that filled their glass with the royal piss. Inmediately, the political national board of liberal leaders summoned an “urgent” meeting and the outcome was the total withdrawal of political support to Lugo.

The rest is history. In less than 48 hours, Lugo's adversaries took advantage of the situation and achieved what they were looking for since the very first minute the former bishop set foot on Lopez's Palace.
Then, the bishop of the poors left through the "front door", but kicked in his arse. His pending suspicions of paedophilia, links with the wannabe terrorist group EPP (Paraguayan's People Army) and a rosary of irregularities (e.g., nepotism) were never investigated by the authorities.

ENJOYING RETIREMENT IN PARAGUAY: A DEADLY CHOICE FOR FOREIGNERS?

The recent finding of the remains of a 69-year-old dutch, apparently tortured and killed by asphyxia, arose the question on whether Paraguay is really or not a “friendly place” for retired foreigners, who, convinced by the country’s dreamy reputation, seek solace and tranquility for the last years of their lives in this small South American country.

The most recent case of retired europeans residents killed in Paraguay is the murder of Janz Zanoli, whose corpse was found yesterday at a house located in a suburb of the capital Asuncion. Apparently, the Dutch was murdered two days earlier. According to preliminary information released by the local press, the man could have been tortured before he was asphyxiated with a plastic bag, which was found covering the body's head and secured around the neck with packing tape. Burglary is considered the principal motive of the crime, the local police said.

Since 2006, nearly 20 europeans residents were murdered (link), most of them in attacks related to money burglary. Many crimes were perpetrated against couples, meanwhile others murders were committed against men living alone.
The victim’s profile fits lonely men or couples, already retired, with minimal skills in the country’s language. Most of them living in estates 50 to 100 kilometers away from the capital. Many of the criminal offenses were carried on by Paraguayans, who were working for the victims or were acting as "friends", even though, some times, the deadly attacks came from others european residents. Normally, perpetrators are caught and sent to jail, where they would wait a long time before they will be brought to trial.

Until just recently, Paraguay was being considered as an ideal destination for retired Anglo-saxons. however, with a present unstoppable wave of violence and crime shaking nearly every substrate of the paraguayan society, the easy-going mesopotamy of South America seems not to be anymore a recommended spot to enjoy peacefully the last years of any life devoted to work, specially not for naive foreigners.

Murder followed by suicide raise suspicion among victims relatives

The deaths of a 54-year-old farmer and his 18-year-old girlfriend, on last Sunday, appear to be a typical case of murder followed by suicide, even though "it is too soon" to have a conclusive opinion on "what really had happened" the male victim’s relatives said. The case took place at San Juan Nepomuceno, a small town located at 249 kilometers from Asuncion, in the province of Caazapa.

The corpses of Victoriano Escobar Vargas and his girlfriend Mirna Cuba Melgarejo were found by Gregorio Cuba Ortigoza, father of the young girl. Supposedly, Escobar telephoned  Cuba and told him that “there was a problem” and asked him to go “to see it”.

Apparently, Escobar shot his girlfriend four times before turning the weapon on himself, the local press said.

The farmer’s body was found in a sitting position, the gunshot wound was located on his right side ear and one .38 revolver was close to the corpse, while the teen’s body was found naked and lying on the ground, on her back.

There are not precise information yet whether the wounds were on the back of the young woman, but - according to local sources - the preliminary conclusion is that the man killed the teenager and then he has killed himself.

However, Ramon Escobar, brother of the male victim, doubted that Victoriano Escobar has committed suicide. “It is to soon to have a conclusión. There is a problem of legal inheritance over a house and a estate within the family, among ourselves. On a whole, we are fourteen brothers and sisters. Victoriano was questioning that situation and now he is dead. it is very suspicious”, the relative said.

"Accidentes" que se pagan caro

El comandante de la Policía Nacional, Idalino Bianconi, a contra corriente del clamor generalizado de la ciudadanía ante la muerte de un joven músico ocurrida en un barrera policial, señaló ayer que el trágico hecho fue “un accidente”. El uniformado hizo esas declaraciones en rueda de prensa ante distintos medios de comunicación. Sus palabras fueron interpretadas como una intención de minimizar lo ocurrido.
Como se recordará, Julio Rafael Sanabria Amarilla (19), pereció el sábado último, en horas de la madrugada, tras recibir un balazo en la nuca. El homicidio ocurrió a la altura del kilómetro 40 de la ruta VI “Juan León Mallorquín”, distrito de Hohenau, Itapua. Se atribuye la autoría del disparo al suboficial segundo Fermín Delvalle Carreras (29), quien ya fue imputado por homicidio doloso por el fiscal interino de Hohenau, Miguel Anaya.
Como dato preliminar se maneja que la joven víctima estaba arrodillada y con las manos en la nuca cuando recibió el balazo que terminó con su vida. El supuesto autor del crimen está detenido en la Comisaría 1ª, de Encarnación.
“Sabemos que fue una equivocación, una deficiencia en el servicio. Hubo deficiencia en el cateo. Este personal, este suboficial (Delvalle) es considerado dentro de la comunidad uno de los mejorcitos en cuanto a conducta, en cuanto a su trabajo. Lastimosamente, estos accidentes ocurren. El suboficial, en el momento del cateo, pasó de la mano derecha a la mano izquierda, que es menos hábil, allí se produjo el disparo. Esa es la realidad”, dijo Bianconi en otro momento de la escaramuza verbal con los periodistas.
“Esa es la manera de hacer (el cateo). Sí, señor. Sí, señor. Puede preguntar en los países más desarrollados. Esa es la manera de cateo cuando esa cantidad de personas huye de un control policial. Los accidentes de esta naturaleza ocurren. Desde luego que sentimos”, señaló también el jefe policial, de quien se dice que no siente la menor inclinación a conversar con los medios de prensa.

Accidente fatal en Santaní

Un grave accidente rutero cegó la vida de tres personas y dejó gravemente herida a una mujer. El fatal percance ocurrió alrededor de las 22 horas de la víspera a la altura del Kilómetro 153, Ruta 3, en el lugar conocido como Yataity’i, distrito de San Estanislao, departamento de San Pedro. Según los datos preliminares, el choque involucró a dos camiones de gran porte. El primero, tras descargar su carga de soja, volvía de Asunción a Puente Kyha, departamento de Canindeyú, mientras que el segundo llevaba un gran cargamento de mandioca a la Capital.

Según la policía, los fallecidos fueron identificados como Cicinio Balbuena Paredes y Nestor Velázquez, ocupantes del segundo vehículo mencionado, un camión Mercedes Benz, color rojo. Entre tanto, en el primer rodado, un Scannia, color azul, murió en forma instantánea un ciudadano brasileño cuyo nombre era Waldir Toiller. Este último viajaba en compañía de su esposa – Ana Cecilia de Toiller, 42 años –, quien sufrió graves lesiones y fue trasladada hasta el Centro de Emergencias Médicas, en Asunción, donde quedó internada en grave estado.

Un amigo de la familia Toiller acompañó a la citada mujer hasta su lugar de internación en la Capital. El joven, identificado como Julio Andrés, comentó que Ana de Toiller y Waldir Toller tienen tres hijos menores de edad, dos jovencitas y un adolescente. Añadió también que la violencia del impacto entre los camiones fue tal que ambos vehículos quedaron destrozados. Se presume que el exceso de velocidad fue un factor determinante en la colisión de los transportadores de carga.

Un pequeño tropezón...

Un niñito que llegaba a Asunción desde Concepción sufrió un tropezón y terminó con uno de sus bracitos fracturados. El percance ocurrió en la Terminal de Ómnibus de la Capital. El pequeñín fue identificado como Juan Francisco B. C., 7 años, y fue llevado hasta Emergencias Médicas, donde llegó a las 00:10 horas de esta madrugada.
Era evidente que el niño pasaba por un momento de gran dolor. Mientras esperaba ser atendido se acurrucaba en los brazos de su mamá y de su abuela. Finalmente, tras una breve espera que debió haber sido una eternidad para el chico, el mismo fue auxiliado y abandonó el centro de atención del trauma con su miembro superior izquierdo enfundado en una férula de yeso.

Etérea y fantasmal

A partir de las 22 horas de la víspera, una densa neblina cubrió gran parte del Área Metropolitana de Asunción. Las calles adquirieron un aire sombrío y la mayoría de los automovilistas y motociclistas circulaban a velocidad mínima, ya que la visibilidad se vio seriamente afectada.

Ya en horas de la madrugada, la capital tenía un velo fantasmagórico. Con una temperatura por debajo de los 15º Centígrados y los halos de luz de las columnas del alumbrado público peleando por romper la espesura de la niebla, la ciudad parecía un escenario de ultratumba.