Support Political Prisoners in Latin America!

Southbound Initiative is launching a campaign in support of our comrades imprisoned for political reasons in Paraguay, in collaboration with the Argentine Lawyers' Union and the families of the prisoners. We are focusing on supporting political prisoners of the EPP (Paraguayan People's Army), who are being subjected to inhumane prison conditions.

The Partido Patria Libre and the Ejército Popular Paraguayo (EPP) emerged from the internal student leadership of the Movimiento Democrático Popular (MDP - Democratic Popular Movement) which was an opposition movement against the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner (1954-1989). Movimiento Patria Libre came forth in 1992, and ideologically, it combines Marxism-Leninism and liberation theology. Simultaneously, several seminarians who supported liberation theology were persecuted by the state, including Alcides Oviedo, one of the founders of the EPP. In 2002 the political party Partido Patria Libre was established, and later the armed faction (EPP) emerged.

In Paraguay, the fundamental contradiction is the agrarian question - Paraguay's economy is heavily dependent on soy exports, with large Brazilian landowners (brasiguayos) controlling significant territory in eastern Paraguay. Peasant movements demand land reform and oppose agribusiness expansion. The latifundist system persists, as does the struggle of the EPP.

Current Situation of Our Comrades

The conditions of confinement for our comrades are extremely harsh. They suffer absolute isolation for 23 hours a day, confined in a military prison. The cruelty of the Paraguayan regime is extreme. Despite everything, their will to fight and resist remains unwavering. The three prisoners we are supporting in Paraguay at the moment are Carmen Villalba, Laura Villalba, and Francisca Andino. It is worth remembering that Carmen's daughter (Lichita) is missing after an attack by the Joint Task Force in which her eleven-year-old nieces, Lilian and María, daughters of Carmen's sister, Laura Villalba, were killed while trying to flee a conflict zone.

Francisca, a tireless fighter, suffers from serious health problems due to her advanced age.

The Paraguayan judiciary wants to bury them alive. Despite having been imprisoned for over 25 years, Carmen remains in jail due to a final charge aimed at preventing her release. Following the murder of her daughters, Laura Villalba was sentenced to 26 years in prison based solely on the accusatory testimony of members of the armed forces.

No to torture! Freedom for all political prisoners!

Support Political Prisoners in Latin America

Your support enables legal aid and basic survival for these incarcerated freedom fighters