Paraguayan People's Army

The Ejército del Pueblo Paraguayo (Paraguayan People’s Army, or EPP) is a new nationalist leftist Revolutionary Guerrilla that has focused its field of operations on kidnapping wealthy Paraguayans, and occasionally attacking Paraguay’s security forces, they operate in Paraguay, especially in some districts of the department of Concepción, in the northeast of the country.

Paraguayan People’s Army

Founded	2005
Years active	2005 - Present
Territory	Concepción
Ethnicity	Paraguayan
Membership	Unknown
Activities	Terrorism , Kidnapping
Allies	FARC
Rivals	Fernando Lugo

The EPP criticized the government of Fernando Lugo, as they say, he represents the oligarchy, ignores the social problems and poses no real land reform. The Paraguayan state EPP qualifies the group as a terrorist organization.

Origins

The EPP began as an offshoot of another radical fringe group, the Free Homeland Party (Partido Patria Libre – PPL). After the PPL was taken apart by security forces in 2005, several members decided to form a new group with which to continue the armed struggle

Training

It is known that at least one key FARC leader, Orley Jurado Palomino, aka Commander Santiago, has gone to Paraguay to provide training, advice and operational leadership to the insurgent group. It is also unclear if the EPP has ties with some major Brazilian drug trafficking organizations, like the First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital – PCC) and Red Command (Comando Vermelho) which are known to have a significant presence in northern Paraguay.

Kidnapping

One of the most prominent victims of the EPP has been Fidel Zavala, who was held captive for 94 days until he was finally freed on January 17, 2010. Unfortunately, as the history of insurgent movements in general seems indicate, there is ample room for “growth” when it comes to their possible future operations. From kidnappings to murder, along with armed raids and other major attacks, this group also has been accused of kidnapping and subsequently brutally murdering Cecilia Cubas, the daughter of former Paraguayan president Raúl Cubas.