PARAGUAY: LEFTIST PATRIA LIBRE SUSPECTED IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L ASUNCION 000404

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR DS/IP/WHA AND DS/DSS/ITA
STATE PASS TO USAID LAC/AA
POSTS FOR RSO
SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD BARARA MOORE
NSC FOR SUE CRONIN
JOINT STAFF FOR J5 LTC SCOTT DAVIS
NAIROBI FOR MICHAEL FITZPATRICK

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/20/2016
TAGS: PREL PTER PINR PA
SUBJECT: PARAGUAY: LEFTIST PATRIA LIBRE SUSPECTED IN
ASSAULT OF POLICE STATION

REF: A. ASUNCION 325 AND PRECEDING

B. ASUNCION 210 AND PRECEDING

C. 05 ASUNCION 1325 AND PRECEDING

D. 05 ASUNCION 1119 AND PRECEDING

E. 05 ASUNCION 1101

Classified By: PolOff Mark A. Stamilio, reasons 1.4(b),(c) and (d).


1. (U) Summary: On April 18, a group of 12 heavily armed men
and women assaulted a police station in the Department of
Concepcion, critically wounding a policeman posted there and
burning the police station to the ground. A second policeman
identified one of the assailants as the brother of a member
of the leftist Free Fatherland Party (Partido Patria Libre,
or PPL). Authorities in the area arrested three suspects,
one of whom is a member of the PPL-affiliated Campesino
Organization of the North (OCN). End Summary.


2. (U) At approximately 10:30 PM on April 18, a group of
approximately ten men and two women assaulted a small police
station in the remote hamlet of Colonia Jorge Sebastian
Miranda (a.k.a. Hugua Nandu),in the Department of
Concepcion, approximately 250 miles north of Asuncion. The
group was dressed in camouflage fatigues and body armor.
They were armed with high caliber rifles and detonated a hand
grenade during the assault. One of two policemen manning the
police station at the time of the assault was shot three
times in the chest. He was flown to Asuncion for surgery,
and remains in critical condition. The assailants burned the
police station to the ground. They also burned two police
motorcycles parked in front of the police station.


3. (U) A second policeman manning the police station at the
time of the assault identified one of the assailants as
Osvaldo Villalba, brother of Carmen Villalba, a PPL militant
incarcerated for her role in the 2001 kidnapping of Maria
Edith Bordon de Debernardi (ref D). According to press
reports, the second policeman overheard one of the assailants
tell his wounded partner, "Tell the press that we are well
prepared for this battle, that we are not amateurs, and that
they should deliver the message to the government."


4. (U) Authorities in the area arrested three suspects. One
of the suspects, Martin Ocampos, is a member of the
PPL-affiliated Campesino Organization of the North (OCN) (ref
B). He reportedly admitted to authorities that he previously
belonged to the PPL, but denied involvement in the April 18
assault on the police station.


5. (C) Comment: PPL militants were responsible for the
February murder of a policeman in the Department of
Concepcion (ref B),and the similar murder of a policeman in
the Department of Canindeyu in August (ref E). In addition
to the Debernardi kidnapping, they were responsible for the
2004 kidnapping and murder of former President Raul Cubas'
daughter Cecilia (ref C). The PPL is a registered political
party, but its military wing is a band of criminals that
emulates the FARC and espouses the violent overthrow of the
government. They are receiving financial support from
Venezuela and other foreign governments and organizations.
They are using the OCN as a front organization to solicit
funds from foreign NGOs, including the Red Cross. The
policeman who was shot during the April 18 assault served as
an escort for prosecutors investigating the February murder,
which may have been the motive for the assault. The PPL
obviously intended for the assault to send a message to the
government.
CASON