The Peasants Are Revolting
Paraguay's government sent dozens of extra police on Friday to a poor rural region where peasant farmers demanding land redistribution have threatened to invade Brazilian-owned ranches.
Tensions have risen in the Paraguayan countryside since President Fernando Lugo, a former Roman Catholic bishop, took office in August, vowing to make land reform a priority for his center-left administration.
Interior Minister Rafael Filizzola said 100 extra police would be sent to patrol the impoverished central province of San Pedro, a focus of tension between landless peasants and wealthy landowners, some of whom are from neighboring Brazil.
"We're going to increase the presence of the police and the state in an area where threats are being reported at the moment," Filizzola told reporters.
In San Pedro, where Lugo served as bishop for more than 10 years, militant peasants vowed on Wednesday to launch a wave of invasions of Brazilian-owned farms in the area next week to press their demands for land.
Government ministers have said any land reform program will respect private property and have warned that anyone involved in farm occupations will be prosecuted.
Peasant farmers' demands for land have increased since a soy-farming boom gathered pace five years ago in Paraguay, the world's fourth-biggest soy exporter.
Tensions have risen in the Paraguayan countryside since President Fernando Lugo, a former Roman Catholic bishop, took office in August, vowing to make land reform a priority for his center-left administration.
Interior Minister Rafael Filizzola said 100 extra police would be sent to patrol the impoverished central province of San Pedro, a focus of tension between landless peasants and wealthy landowners, some of whom are from neighboring Brazil.
"We're going to increase the presence of the police and the state in an area where threats are being reported at the moment," Filizzola told reporters.
In San Pedro, where Lugo served as bishop for more than 10 years, militant peasants vowed on Wednesday to launch a wave of invasions of Brazilian-owned farms in the area next week to press their demands for land.
Government ministers have said any land reform program will respect private property and have warned that anyone involved in farm occupations will be prosecuted.
Peasant farmers' demands for land have increased since a soy-farming boom gathered pace five years ago in Paraguay, the world's fourth-biggest soy exporter.