In Paraguay, secret archive may shed light on dictatorship-era repression in South America

September 30th, 2009 Convicted Paraguay torturers kept earning salariesASUNCION, Paraguay — Three police chiefs imprisoned for torture have finally have been fired after collecting their salaries from behind bars since 1995, Paraguay's interior minister said Tuesday. The former officials are serving 25-year terms in maximum security prison for human rights offenses under the dictatorship of Gen.

September 2nd, 2009 Chilean judge calculates Pinochet's secret fortuneSANTIAGO, Chile — A Chilean judge says he has determined the exact value of the secret overseas fortune amassed by late dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

September 1st, 2009 CIA: No more interrogation secrets to be disclosedWASHINGTON — The CIA says it cannot turn over more details of its interrogations of terror suspects without spilling classified government secrets. A long-secret report released last week shed new light on alleged CIA abuses.

August 19th, 2009 Allende seeks Brazil documents on '73 Chile coupRIO DE JANEIRO — The daughter of overthrown Chilean President Salvador Allende requested via Twitter on Tuesday that Brazil open any secret archives that could shed light on any role it played in the 1973 coup that killed her father. The request by Isabel Allende, a deputy in Chile's Congress, follows publication in the U.S.

August 7th, 2009 Uruguay: Ex-dictator's son says quit MercosurMONTEVIDEO, Uruguay — A former dictator's son who's running for president suggested Thursday that Uruguay should give up on the Mercosur trade bloc and follow the Chilean model of establishing bilateral trade deals with as many countries as it can. Pedro Bordaberry, leading the Colorado Party into October's elections, said Mercosur — which counts Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay as full members — "has not complied with its first article, which is the free movement of people and goods within its membership." He also referred to Argentine demonstrators' three-year blockade of a river-border bridge in protest of potential pollution from a paper factory in Uruguay, saying the neighbors' relations "are at their worst since 1953, when (Argentine) Gen.

August 6th, 2009 Paraguay upholds prison terms in supermarket blazeASUNCION, Paraguay — Paraguay's Supreme Court has upheld the original prison sentences given to the owners of a supermarket that caught fire five years ago, killing 420 people. The court voted 2-1 late Wednesday in favor of a sentence of 12 years for Juan Pio Paiva and 10 years for his son Daniel Paiva, spokesman Luis Gimenez said.

August 6th, 2009 Paraguay landless try crucifixion to get attentionASUNCION, Paraguay — It's a gruesome tradition in Paraguay that gets results, at least from leftist priest-turned president Fernando Lugo. A half-dozen protesters have hammered long nails through their hands and tied themselves to crosses or laid in coffins in an appeal for land.

July 24th, 2009 AP names Mike Warren to new South America postNEW YORK — Michael Warren, deputy Latin America editor of The Associated Press, has been named to a new position overseeing AP operations in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay — the Southern Cone region of South America. Senior Managing Editor John Daniszewski made the announcement Friday.

July 20th, 2009 In South America, Israeli FM seeks to block IranJERUSALEM — Israel's foreign minister is heading to South America on a mission partly aimed at stemming Iranian "infiltration" on the continent, a senior diplomat said Monday. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's 10-day visit to Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Colombia comes at a time of rising Iranian influence in Latin America.

June 24th, 2009 Paraguay woman says Lugo raped her in '01ASUNCION, Paraguay — A woman who claims that Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo is the father of her son on Tuesday accused the former Roman Catholic bishop of raping her in their first sexual encounter. Lugo declined to address the allegation against him in detail, but said in a news conference that it is all "part of the second chapter of the novel, I am waiting for the third." "The matter is in the courts and you should talk to my attorney," he said.

June 19th, 2009 Brazil apologizes for persecution of poor farmersBRASILIA, Brazil — The Brazilian government has apologized for the torture and abuse of 44 poor farmers under the military regime that ruled the country from 1964 to 1985 and announced reparations for the victims. In the early 1970s, the farmers were physically tortured and many had their homes and crops destroyed by soldiers seeking information on guerrillas operating in Araguaia, a remote region in the northern jungle state of Para.

May 6th, 2009 Lugo: Dictatorship-era aide must tell of bodiesASUNCION, Paraguay — A top official during Paraguay's former dictatorship who came home last week must reveal where the bodies of dozens of tortured political prisoners are buried, President Fernando Lugo declared Tuesday. Lugo, a former Roman Catholic bishop, used biblical terms to demand that Sabino Montanaro reveal the whereabouts of those who died in Paraguay's "Dirty War" against leftists.

May 1st, 2009 Brazilian court annuls dictatorship-era press lawBRASILIA, Brazil — Brazil's Supreme Court has struck down a press censorship law enacted during a nearly quarter-century military dictatorship. In a 7-4 vote Thursday night, the court ruled the law unconstitutionally violated freedom of expression.

April 23rd, 2009 Correction: Paraguay-Presidential Paternity storyASUNCION, Paraguay — In an April 20 story about paternity claims against Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo, The Associated Press erroneously reported the name of a 6-year-old boy he allegedly fathered. He is named Lucas Fernando, not Fernando Lucas.

April 23rd, 2009 Illegitimate son of Paraguay president adopts nameASUNCION, Paraguay — A 2-year-old boy that Paraguayan bishop-turned-President Fernando Lugo fathered with a former parishioner is adopting his dad's name. Judge Judith Gauto says she accepted the president's request to rename the child Guillermo Fernando Lugo Carrillo.