MADRID, 26 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez, has ordered this Tuesday the dismissal of the Minister of Justice, Édgar Taboada, hours after he was appointed to the position.
The decision was made after Taboada received a wave of criticism for allowing the coffin of the guerrilla leader of the Paraguayan People’s Army (EPP) Osvaldo Villalba, alias ‘Comandante Alexander’, to enter the Buen Pastor prison, with the objective that he receive the “last goodbye” from his sister and member of the same terrorist group Carmen Villalba.
The sister of the deceased demanded that the authorities transfer the body to the prison, a place to which several relatives went without carrying out the previous legal procedures, the Paraguayan newspaper ‘El Nacional’ reported.
The ministerial portfolio authorized this afternoon the entry of the coffin with the remains of Villalba to the women’s penitentiary for fear of a riot. “It came as a surprise to us, if they did it in time we could have evaluated it,” Taboada told ABC Cardinal radio.
The head of the Civil Cabinet of the Presidency, Hernán Huttemann, has also confirmed the dismissal of the director of the prison, Marian Vázquez, for agreeing to the family’s requirements.
The Paraguayan authorities confirmed the death of three guerrillas killed in combat this Sunday in the east of the country. One of them is the considered leader of the Paraguayan People’s Army (EPP) Osvaldo Villalba, alias ‘Comandante Alexander’.
Villalba, 39, is charged with at least 60 crimes. This is one of the most important blows dealt to the EPP in recent years, celebrated the head of the Intelligence Department of the National Police, Nimio Cardozo.
