Drills Heighten Brazil-Paraguay Tensions

The New York Times
By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
Published: October 23, 2008
RIO DE JANEIRO — Tensions between Brazil and Paraguay, already high because of land invasions of Brazilian-controlled farms inside Paraguay, intensified this week after Brazil’s army began exercises in the border region.
Paraguay’s president, Fernando Lugo, responded sternly, warning Brazil in a news conference in Asunción, Paraguay’s capital, that “not even one millimeter of the territorial sovereignty of the country can be bothered.” If that happens, he added, “the Paraguayan reaction will be swift.”
Paraguayan television this week showed armed Brazilian troops occupying the “Friendship Bridge” separating the countries at Ciudad del Este. It was a chilling scene for Paraguayans, who are bitterly aware of how their country was torn apart by Brazilian invaders in a war 140 years ago.
Brazil’s maneuvers come as the Paraguayan countryside has become increasingly violent. Newspapers have been filled with accounts of deadly conflicts between the police and peasants and between peasants and armed militias controlled by Brazilian farmers. The issue is complicating the countries’ relationship and the nascent presidency of Mr. Lugo, a former Roman Catholic bishop and a champion of the poor.
A senior Brazilian diplomat in Brasília denied Thursday in an interview that the military operations, being carried out in the state of Alto Paraná, were related to the land confrontations involving peasants. The diplomat said periodic exercises took place in the border area, which is known for illicit commerce.
“The last thing the Brazilian government is going to do is use its troops to intervene in an internal Paraguayan issue,” the diplomat said. Still, Brazilian officials expressed concern. A statement by the Brazilian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said the landless peasants’ movement “threatened to unleash violent actions against communities of Brazilians living in Paraguay.” The statement added that the “threats” by the peasants had been the subject of “apprehension on the part of Brazilian authorities,” and that Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president, had mentioned the concern last month in a meeting with Mr. Lugo.
The Paraguayan peasants say that land is being occupied illegally by Brazilian farmers and that corrupt officials have allowed the outsiders to acquire it for decades. The election in April of Mr. Lugo, who spent 11 years working with landless peasants in the countryside, has emboldened them to invade farms controlled by Brazilian soybean producers.
Mr. Lugo acknowledged this week that Paraguay’s sovereignty had not been violated. But he underscored that the military operations had touched a nerve in Paraguay, which was devastated in the 1865-1870 War of the Triple Alliance, which led to years of Brazilian military occupation.
While Mr. Lugo is seemingly beholden to the peasants who believe in him, he also must show he can enforce the rule of law. And a key part of his platform involved efforts to renegotiate contracts with Brazil for the Itaipú hydroelectric plant, along the two countries’ border. Paraguay wants more money for power that is produced at the jointly owned plant.
Fears were heightened last weekend when Paraguayan news outlets replayed an interview from July with the commander of Brazilian border forces, Gen. José Carvalho Siqueira.
Referring to a hypothetical occupation of hydroelectric plants by a foreign social movement, the general was quoted as saying that the Brazilian Army existed to “carry out whatever mission in whatever part of the national territory; if the president determines that an action should be undertaken, then it should be carried out.”