It appears that a tiny band of leftist guerillas has popped up in this poor South American nation. It's surprising because the country just elected a leftist president (an ex-bishop who was a big proponent of liberation theology). For now, it seems like the EPP is one part idealist, two parts criminal.
That cocaine is being shipped through Paraguay is troubling and adds to the mess. Of course, lawless border towns like Ciudad del Este have always been a smuggler's paradise. A former president was even shamed (while in office) into acknowledging that his BMW 528i was actually stolen from Brazil. For a moment, Al Qaeda and Hezbollah were suspected of laundering money in the area. But I think the reason the EPP has flourished (relatively speaking) is because the brutal Colorado party, with its emphasis on "law and order" (without any regard for due process or human rights), is gone. It is democracy itself that is nourishing instability and chaos.
In just the last few days, Al Jazeera English produced these three glimpses into the current situation in Paraguay:
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