This was what Vidal Acevedo, member of the human rights organization Servicio Paz y Justicia (Serpaj), said to Real World Radio in Paraguay.

Members of the ousted administration are being persecuted after the impeachment against Fernando Lugo that took place on June 22nd, said Acevedo.

“This was a parliamentary coup, the democratic order was interrupted and for that reason we are not recognizing this de facto administration”, said Acevedo, who described a series of arrests by the police in Asuncion, capital city of Paraguay, as part of the actions in rejection to the new government.

“What’s to say about due process when President Lugo himself was tried in an illegitimate way?”, said Acevedo, and added that the impeachment against the former president “had no sense”.

Aluminum Cotton

According to different analyses a month after the impeachment, Franco’s administration has been characterized by the direct benefits granted to foreign investments linked to agribusiness and extractive industries.

One of the measures that is being questioned is the "express" authorizations granted to GM cotton and an aluminum plant.

“It is worrying how a government which wasn’t elected by the people is authorizing these investments, without any control”, said economist Luis Rojas, of NGO Base Investigaciones Sociales to IPS news agency. Rojas cited the example of the permit granted to use genetically modified Bollgard cotton, of Monsanto, without carrying out the preliminary studies required to grant this type of licenses.

Real World Radio also asked Vidal Acevedo of Serpaj Paraguay about the situation of the Human Rights protection mechanisms, such as the Ombudsman or the General Attorney’s Office, and Acevedo described a very bleak picture of the situation.

Under Lugo’s administration, the General Attorney’s Office was carrying out efforts to clear up the situation of “ill-gotten lands”, something which will not continue, as it was announced. The problem with these lands, that amount to eight million hectares that were privatized during Alfredo Stroessner’s four-decade dictatorship, is key in the Paraguayan social conflict.

Made in Chaco

Finally, Vidal Acevedo described the new attempts by some Paraguayan political actors to install a US military base in Mariscal Estigarribia, Chaco.

This has been a possibility for years and it has the interest of US authorities. In fact, said town has an airport whose size is completely out of proportion with reference to the number of inhabitants (2,000), which could be the starting point for the US military base, said Acevedo.