Operation Sweetness: Paraguay finds four tons of cocaine stashed in sugar in its biggest drug bust yet [View all]

By Associated Press
4:29pm Jul 17, 2024

Authorities in Paraguay announced on Tuesday the largest cocaine seizure in the country's history after officials were surprised to find more than four tons of the drug stashed inside a shipment of sugar bound for Belgium.

President Santiago Peña told journalists that the record discovery, code-named "Operation Sweetness," added to a string of "very sad episodes" in Paraguay that had transformed the strategically located nation into a key drug trafficking hub in the region.

Peña expressed hope that the seizure, valued at roughly $US240 million ($AU 356 million), would disrupt the cocaine trade and said police were pursuing those responsible.

. . .

"Gangs are not going to be able to avoid all the controls that we are implementing."

More:
https://www.9news.com.au/national/paraguay-finds-four-tons-of-cocaine-stashed-in-sugar-in-operation-sweetness/aab2922a-f7db-45b9-ab08-7fd6710bdfc4

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Colorado Party (Paraguay)

National Republican Association – Colorado Party (Spanish: Asociación Nacional Republicana – Partido Colorado, ANR-PC, lit. 'Red Party') is a conservative political party in Paraguay, founded on 11 September 1887 by Bernardino Caballero. Since 1947, the colorados, as they are known, has been dominant in Paraguayan politics (ruling as the only legal party between 1947 and 1962) and has controlled the presidency since 1948 –notwithstanding a brief interruption between 2008 and 2013– as well as having a majority in both chambers of Congress and department governorships.

With 2.6 million members as of 2022 (although there are allegations of numerous false affiliations made by the party),[17] it is the largest political party in the country, usually ruling without the necessity of electoral alliances.

. . .

The Colorado Party became the dominant political force in the country following the conclusion of the 1947 civil war. During this time, the party operated multiple paramilitary wings. From 1947 until 1962, the Colorado Party ruled Paraguay as a one-party state; all other political parties were illegal.[18] In 1962, all national parties were nominally legalized; the Communist Party being deemed "international" remained illegal and its adherents repressed by the Paraguayan state. During the rule of Alfredo Stroessner all members of the armed forces and government employees were required to be members of the Colorado Party. Dissident groups within the party were purged, and two (Movimiento Popular Colorado and Asociación Nacional Republicana en el Exilio y la Resistencia) acted as opposition groups in exile until the 1980s. In 1987, there was a rift in the party between a hardliner faction supportive of Stroessner and a traditionalist faction.[19] This rift was primarily over the issue of Stroessner's succession and was a large contributor to the 1989 coup d'état led by General Andrés Rodríguez, himself a traditionalist.[20]

In practice, however, Paraguay remained a one-party military dictatorship until Stroessner's overthrow in 1989. It served as one of the "twin pillars" of Stroessner's 35-year rule, one of the longest in history by a non-royal leader.[21]

More:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_Party_(Paraguay)


Paraguayan President,

Santiago Peña, conservative
Colorado Party (as always)









"Having speaks" with Argentina's happy conservative statesman President Milei