"Until now there were important news reports that damaged the image of the state security agencies, which directly affects the president, although so far no one has accused him," political and economic expert Félix Lugo told IPS.

He was referring to the theft of war materials and the implication of the armed forces in that crime, and to the police killing two peasant farmers last Friday in a crackdown on a protest against chemical fumigation of genetically modified soya crops.
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POLITICS-PARAGUAY: Murder Plot, Rumours Re-Route the President
Alejandro Sciscioli
http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=22107

ASUNCION, Jan 26 (IPS) - The spectre of assassination returned to the political scene in Paraguay with a Brazilian intelligence report of an alleged plot to kill President Nicanor Duarte Frutos, a threat that members of the political opposition and some analysts cast into doubt, despite the country's recent political history.

The intelligence document, the content of which was confirmed by Paraguayan military sources, states that six Brazilian killers hired by the Paraguayan mafia had entered the country to launch an attack against Duarte Frutos' aircraft during his planned return Sunday from vacationing on Brazil's beaches.

The president was expected to return to Asunción Sunday evening, but his flight was re-routed to land instead in Ciudad del Este, on the Brazilian border where the famed Iguaçu Falls is located.  According to Brazilian intelligence, the six plotters had obtained anti-aircraft missiles to attack the presidential plane.  Duarte Frutos returned to the Paraguayan capital using ground transport on Monday.

Taking a cautious attitude in response to news of a possible assassination attempt, members of the Cabinet and leaders of the governing National Republican Association, also known as the Colorado Party, opted not to make any statements to the press.

But political analysts and leaders of the opposition said they doubt the reliability of the intelligence report, and some suggested it could be an attempt by the government itself to shift the public's attention away from the headlines that are tarnishing its image.

”Until now there were important news reports that damaged the image of the state security agencies, which directly affects the president, although so far no one has accused him,” political and economic expert Félix Lugo told IPS.

He was referring to the theft of war materials and the implication of the armed forces in that crime, and to the police killing two peasant farmers last Friday in a crackdown on a protest against chemical fumigation of genetically modified soya crops.

Lugo said he suspects that, ”if the Brazilian intelligence information really does exist, it was leaked on purpose (in order to) remove from front-page news” the stories that giving the government a negative rap.

The reported plot ”is a possible farce,” says former Paraguayan vice-president Julio César Franco, current head of the leading opposition group, the social democrat PLRA. ”Until there is a detailed report on the situation” from the government, we cannot know for sure what happened.” > But political scientist Sergio Britos says the existence of a plan to assassinate the president is plausible, because since the 47-year-old Duarte Frutos took office, in August 2003, ”there are people who are losing power and money.”

Those groups ”are the ones that would be interested an attempt on the president's life,” said Britos. Whoever is behind the alleged plot could also be trying to frighten him, because ”we live in a country where rumours are utilised to scare off opponents.”

But sometimes the rumour mill does not work like it should, he said, citing the example of Gen. Alfredo Stroessner, today exiled in Brazil. His dictatorship was overthrown after 54 years in power. ”The rumours of a coup had been circulating for three months, but he didn't listen to them,” said Britos.

”Even (Luis María) Argaña knew about a potential attempt on his live, which he ended up ignoring,” he said.

Argaña, who was vice-president, was murdered in 1999, triggering a political crisis that left four people dead, more than a hundred wounded, and led to the resignation of then-president Rául Cubas.

Cubas and his mentor, the former coup-leading general Lino Oviedo, fled the country. Oviedo, who faces charges related to the Argaña murder, is currently living in exile in Brazil.

Angel Roberto Seifart, who served as vice-president under Juan Carlos Wasmosy (1994-1998), was the target of a failed assassination attempt in April 1996, when Oviedo had launched a military uprising against the government in response to an order to remove him as commander of the army.

But it appears that this time Oviedo is not involved. ”He always tries to take advantage of the situation. But today he is a ghost in national politics. In other words, Oviedo no longer exists,” commented analyst Lugo.

Meanwhile, Carlos Mateo Balmelli, of the PLRA and president of the Senate, and Benjamín Maciel Pasotti, of the Colorado party and president of the Chamber of Deputies, say what is really cause for concern is that intelligence was leaked that affects the security of the president.   (END/2004)

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