Paraguay: International Solidarity Campaign for Political Prisoners
Featured image: Carmen Villalba during a hearing in Paraguay, escorted by law enforcement agents. Source: AND.
María Carmen Villalba, communist and historic leader of the Paraguayan People’s Army (EPP), remains subjected to entirely illegal imprisonment, having already served the entirety of her prison sentence. A campaign calling for international solidarity for the political prisoners has now been called, A Nova Democracia reports.
A political campaign of international solidarity for Carmen and Laura Villalba as well as Francisca Andino has been launched, taking place from the 1st of June to the 7th. The International Campaign of Solidarity with the Villalba Family calls for workers, unions, collectives, and popular organizations to send videos, photos, and letters of denunciation to Paraguayan consulates and embassies, and to put pressure on the Minister of Justice, Rodrigo Nicora, to end the prolonged isolation, incommunicado detention and torture against the prisoners.
The support committees raise several slogans, including: ““Freedom for political prisoners” , “End of the regime of punishment and prolonged isolation” , “Visits now for Carmen, Laura and Francisca”.
Documents recently submitted to the United Nations (UN) reveal that, in October 2024, Carmen Villalba, Francisca Andino, and Laura Villalba were secretly transferred to the Minga Guazú maximum-security prison. The prisoners were made to wear a hood, handcuffed, and deprived of any prior notification to their legal representatives, violating the most basic national and international human rights standards, AND reports.
We have previously reported on the increasing political repression from the State of Paraguay:
