On July 12, some 5,000 landless families invaded 20 estates owned by Paraguayans and foreigners in seven of Paraguay's 17 departments, in a coordinated action to demand a speedy agrarian reform. "The occupation of private properties is a legitimate action; it may not be legal, but it's the only way to get the attention of the authorities," said Luis Aguayo, a leader of the leftist National Coordinating Committee of Campesino Organizations (MCNOC). [AP 7/12/06]

The owners' claims to the 20 properties occupied by MCNOC members on July 12 are of "spurious origin," said Aguayo, since the lands were "adjudicated to characters connected with the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner (1954-1989)," and many lack legal titles. The occupied estates are located in the departments of Caaguazu, Caazapa, Itapua, Canindeyu, Misiones, San Pedro and Paraguari. The date of the land invasion was chosen because July 12 marks the 20th anniversary of the murder of two campesinos by soldiers, Aguayo noted. [Notimex 7/12/06]

Aguayo said that a year ago the MCNOC presented President Nicanor Duarte Frutos with a plan for expropriating large tracts of idle lands owned by foreigners. "We did the same with the legislators, but we haven't received a favorable response, so we have no other option than to occupy the lands," Aguayo explained. There are 300,000 landless families in Paraguay, according to Aguayo. [AP 7/12/06] Official statistics show that 80% of the land in Paraguay is in the hands of less than 10% of the population. [Adital 7/14/06]

Duarte reacted to the land occupations on July 12 by holding a meeting with Agriculture Minister Carlos Santacruz; Santacruz then announced that the government would increase a credit line for campesino cotton producers who had suffered drought losses. [Notimex 7/12/06]

Virgilio Barboza, chief of public order for the National Police, said his agency was implementing "dialogue as a way to avoid frictions or violent actions; through conversations with the campesino leaders we are trying to persuade them to start leaving the private properties peacefully." Barboza said the police had managed to peacefully end two of the occupations so far.

"We won't use force because it won't be the solution, besides which the National Police doesn't have enough agents to control all the invasions," said Barboza. [AP 7/12/06] However, according to press reports, some 100 police agents intervened to remove a group of 3,000 campesinos from the MCNOC who were blocking a highway in Capiibary, San Pedro department. Two people were arrested and nine injured. The campesinos have camped out nearby and say they will invade other estates. [Adital 7/14/06]

Also in Update #859:

--Paraguay: Marines Blamed for Deaths
--Uruguay: Court Won't Block Pulp Mills
--Venezuela: Prisoners Win Strike
--Guatemala: Spain Indicts Ex-Officers
--El Salvador: FMLN Blamed for Violence
--Honduras: Pride March in San Pedro Sula
--Mexico: Vote Protests Grow
--Haiti: 21 Killed in Gang Violence
--Haiti: Terror Leader Indicted in NY
--In Other News: Panama, Ecuador, Brazil

ISSN#: 1084-922X. Weekly News Update on the Americas covers news from Latin America and the Caribbean, compiled and written from a progressive perspective. It has been published weekly by the Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York since 1990. If this issue was forwarded to you, please write to wnu [at] igc.org for a free one-month subscription. Update items are available in searchable form at http://americas.org

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