Seventeen Killed in Violent Land Eviction in Paraguay
At least eight police officers and nine peasant farmers were killed in armed clashes on Friday during a land eviction in Paraguay, marking one of the worst such incidents in the country for two decades.
Leftist President Fernando Lugo deployed troops to support local police. He ruled out any links between the incident and the Paraguayan People’s Army, a small leftist group that has staged a series of raids on rural police posts in recent years.
A dead Paraguayan peasant is seen at a health center in Curuguaty
A dead Paraguayan peasant dead is lowered out of a vehicle at a health center in Curuguaty
The peasants shot at the officers when they arrived to evict them from a privately owned farm in the Canindeuyu district, some 240 kilometers (150 miles) from the capital, and they returned fire, officials said.
“Up until now we’ve seen about nine deaths among the peasant farmers who were occupying the property,” Interior Minister Carlos Filizzola told reporters before handing in his resignation over the incident.