The daughters of the former vice-president of Paraguay, Oscar Denis, demanded from the EPP guerrillas proof of their father’s life after six months of kidnapping.

The daughters of the former Paraguayan vice-president Oscar Denis, 75, again asked the guerrilla group of the Paraguayan People’s Army (PPE) news of her father’s condition on Sunday six months after his kidnapping, after leaving his cattle ranch in northern Paraguay in a vehicle.

Beatriz Denis, the spokesperson for the family, read a statement in the town of Concepción in which they appealed for the pain they suffered and taking into account the age and health of his father, who at the time of the abduction presented a picture of diabetes and hypertension.

“We ask you to communicate in any way”, said the spokeswoman, who reiterated that the family was ready to negotiate with the kidnappers.

Likewise, he called on the State and the security forces to do everything possible to find the fate of Denis, while asking the Paraguayan society that he does not forget his father or the two other people who were kidnapped by the EPP and of whom there is no news.

The family of the retired politician highlighted the security forces’ lack of performance and at the end of last month they requested the intercession of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michele Bachelet, so that the government has recourse to international aid.

“We call on the United Nations High Commissioner (to) urge Paraguay to adopt the necessary measures regarding its security organs, including international cooperation, to find those abducted alive,” said Beatriz Denis, in statements at the station. ABC Cardinal.

Regarding the lack of results of the security forces, he said: “The Paraguayan state has failed and continues to fail in its obligation to prevent further kidnappings and to include minors in the EPP.”

Before the family discusses the Red Cross mediation to free their father, but the presiding executive Mario Abdo Benitez, of the Conservative Party of Colorado, rejected this possibility on the grounds that it would imply recognition of the belligerent status of the EPP.

The guerrillas, founded in 2008, kidnapped the policeman Edelio Morínigo in 2014 and two years later the breeder Félix Urbieta, in 2016, whose current status and condition are unknown.

Denis was kidnapped on September 9, in his ranch “La Tranquerita”, between the departments of Concepción and Amambay (north), zone of influence of the guerrillas.

In addition to the former vice president, who was forcibly taken away, a farm worker who was traveling by car at the time of the kidnapping was also released a few days later.

The family claimed to have complied with the EPP’s demand to release their father: the distribution between peasant communities of foodstuffs worth two million dollars.

The other request was addressed to the government: the release of two historic guerrilla prisoners, who the executive found it impractical.

Denis was vice-president of the presidential cabinet Federico Franco (from the Liberal Party), between 2012 and 2013, besides being governor of Concepción, and later dedicated to his breeding business.

The kidnapping took place days after an operation criticized by special forces to combat the EPP, in which two girls died, allegedly the daughters of some guerrilla leaders. The government’s version is that the miners were part of the guerrillas and that one of them opened fire during this clash.

The Denis family were hoping to obtain new information after the operation between the Joint Task Force and the EPP, which took place on November 21. in which three members were killed, one of them identified as participating in the kidnapping.

For his part, last week, the Paraguayan Human Rights Coordinator (Codehupy) warned that there was currently< des violences à fort impact social >> in three departments in the north due to the presence of armed criminal groups and the state’s policy of militarization. , where the guerrillas of the Paraguayan People’s Army are active. This was concluded by the report presented by Codehupy on the basis of data collected by the 31 members of the Human Rights Observation Mission, which visited the departments of Concepción, San Pedro and Amambay between the February 22 and 26.

The Executive Secretary of Codehupy, Oscar Ayala, declared that the situation of violence “has remained in time”, with a “great vulnerability in towns like Concepción and Horqueta”. Ayala spoke of the action of the EPP, which kidnapped former vice-president Denis months ago. “The criminal phenomena associated with the perpetration of kidnappings are no longer isolated events, but on the contrary have a systematic character in the department”, Ayala stressed in an act, in Concepción, and urged the state to “work on prevention” because there is no “favorable resolution of the current events”.

With information from EFE and Europa Press

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