The president of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez, apologized to the victims of the Paraguayan People’s Army (EPP) in the face of the outrage caused in the country by the entry of the coffin of the dejected leader of that guerrilla, Osvaldo Villalba, into a women’s prison to receive the last goodbye from his sister confined there, Carmen Villalba.
“It was a mistake, a regrettable mistake,” the president told reporters during a visit to a water treatment plant in the Viñas Cué area of Asunción.
The president reacted in this way to the discomfort caused by the entrance of the coffin to the Buen Pastor prison, despite the fact that access was initially denied, and he considered that “no privilege can be given to anyone.”
Abdo Benítez confessed that he found out about what happened through the press, for which he asked for a report.
“I was not satisfied with the response or the arguments of the decision-making, so I immediately dismissed the minister and also requested the dismissal of the director of the Good Shepherd (Marian Vázquez),” said the president, who said he understood “perfectly the indignation of the citizenship in general”.
«I also felt outraged as citizens. I apologize mainly to the victims of the kidnappings for this fact, but I also condemn the manipulation of the political sectors », he added.
In any case, he defended that the death of Osvaldo Villalba in combat with soldiers from the Joint Task Force (FTC) was “a very important victory.”
“We beheaded the EPP, something that no other government could do,” claimed Abdo Benítez, for whom “this great advance in the fight against terrorism is the important thing about this episode,” although he insisted that there was this “sad and unfortunate event ».
In this sense, he criticized the sectors that took advantage of “this setback” to “try to fade all the effort” of the security forces.
Relatives of those kidnapped by the EPP and congressmen from different political forces expressed their discomfort at what happened with the coffin of the guerrilla leader, whose death was a blow to the EPP.
EFE
