Development & Aid, Headlines, Human Rights, Latin America & the Caribbean, Population, Poverty & SDGs

PARAGUAY: Shooting Ranges, Munitions Depots Within City Limits

David Vargas

ASUNCIÓN, Jun 11 2007 (IPS) - The humble dwellings of the Varadero neighbourhood in the Paraguayan capital still show signs of the devastating explosion that occurred three years ago in a navy arsenal located within a residential area.

In the small hours of the morning of Feb. 28, 2004, a fire in an ammunitions depot set off a rain of projectiles that destroyed some 50 homes around the arsenal and injured several civilians and members of the military.

Since then, Patricia Reyes and her family have been living in fear that at any moment another catastrophe will occur. “It was horrible, this was like hell. We thought it was an earthquake,” she told IPS, bringing out pieces of several projectiles that she kept as a reminder of that night.

After the fire, residents of Varadero, which is located on the banks of the Paraguay River, launched an intense campaign to press the military to relocate the arms depot outside of the city. They held protest demonstrations and sent letters to the Asunción city government, the Foreign Ministry, the Defence Ministry and even the president.

But none of their efforts bore fruit. All they achieved were small indemnification payments to rebuild their houses and a promise to tighten safety measures in the navy ammunitions depot.

The navy in Paraguay, a land-locked country, has 3,500 sailors and smaller vessels used mainly in river patrols.

Although the local residents were unsuccessful in their demands, their struggle did revive a longstanding debate on the presence of military garrisons in the city – a touchy question in this South American country that experienced a 35-year dictatorship under General Alfredo Stroessner.

Eighteen years after Stroessner was overthrown by a 1989 coup that gave rise to a democratic transition, the armed forces remain strong in Asunción, as reflected by the military facilities that occupy municipal property at key points in the city.

According to the military, the armed forces occupy 11 square kilometres of the city’s total of 117, with 20 military bases, mainly along the Paraguay River, which runs through the capital. The military hold title deeds to only 14 of them, while the rest have been built irregularly on municipal property.

All of the mayors elected since the 1989 coup have attempted to recuperate part of the property in question, but without success.

One of the most representative facilities is the Regimiento Escolta Presidencial, in charge of the president’s security, which occupies 14 hectares in one of the city’s most populous neighbourhoods.

The tree-lined garrison contains an ammunitions depot and a busy shooting range. Many nearby homes have been hit by stray bullets, and people have even been injured.

The home of Luis Alberto Duarte is right behind the shooting range. Two years ago, he was awakened from a nap by the whistle of a bullet that grazed his bed and embedded itself in his wall.

The controversy flared up again in late May, when town councillor Juan Radice presented a request asking the city council to address the local residents’ demands once and for all.

“The people living in this area have seen their rights trampled by the complicit silence of the national and local authorities of the moment,” Radice told IPS.

The town councillor, who belongs to the governing Colorado Party, which has been in power for over half a century, proposed turning the military barracks into a city square. The 24 members of the city council approved the motion unanimously and urged the city government to begin negotiating with the armed forces.

But the battle is not likely to be an easy one.

Armed forces chief General Bernardino Soto Estigarribia told IPS that there is no reason to relocate the barracks because “they pose no danger to local residents. If you visit other countries in the region, you’ll also see barracks and military installations in locations similar to this one. There are no explosives in these barracks.”

Asunción Mayor Evanhy de Gallegos has preferred to take a cautious approach to a debate that could bring her into confrontation with her chief political ally, President Nicanor Duarte, who is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

City planner Jorge Rubiani, a former Asunción town councillor, said there are two main reasons to criticise the presence of military installations in the capital.

One is the fact that they occupy public spaces that should serve as parks or places of recreation.

The Paraguayan capital almost lacks public squares and parks, he noted. The city government estimates that there are 2.5 square metres of green open space per city-dweller, far below the nine square metres recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Rubiani’s second criticism is that the military facilities are not necessary. “The barracks were built in what were then outlying slum areas, without any planning. But as the city grew, they ended up being located in the middle of big neighbourhoods, and they no longer have any reason to exist.”