A little-reported story from Paraguay on an eviction of peasants from contested lands by the private gunmen of local big land-owners (apparently Brazilians), backed up by the army and police. It is the biotech opponents who are distributing this news, as the landowners are seeking to plant genetically-modified soy. As we recently noted, there is a growing US military presence in Paraguay at the moment. It is ostensibly there to train and back up Paraguayan security forces in a crackdown on supposed Islamic terror networks in the country, but here is an ugly taste of how the new prowess could be used. Our friend Javiera Rulli of Argentina's Grupo de Reflexion Rural (GRR) provides this report:

Massacre in Caaguazu -PARAGUAY

Brazilian genetically modified (GM) soy growers protected by the police and military in Paraguay attacked last Friday (24/06/05) a peasant community, TEKOJOJA, in the department of Caaguazu. They have evicted 270 people, burnt down all the 54 houses and crops. Two men have been killed --