The Paraguayan Police reported on the intervention by the authorities in the country's prison. The police detailed that the procedure was carried out in collaboration with the Paraguayan Armed Forces. As explained by local media such as La Nación, the situation has left at least 12 injured (seven police officers and six inmates).
"National Police in operation with the Armed Forces, take control of the Tacumbú Prison. People deprived of their liberty will be transferred to spaces that guarantee their safety," the police wrote on their X (formerly Twitter) account.
🚁👮🏻 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗮 𝗮𝗲́𝗿𝗲𝗮 𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗣𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗲 𝗧𝗮𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗯𝘂́@minteriorpy pic.twitter.com/w701q2UKbK
— Policía Nacional del Paraguay (@policia_py) December 18, 2023
"The objective is the eradication of privileges"
The authorities showed images of the prisoners who are being transferred to another prison. Likewise, the Ministry of Justice released a news item detailing that at least 1,100 military personnel and 1,218 police officers lead the "Operation Beneratio," which aims to regain institutional control within the Tacumbú National Penitentiary.
"The objective is the eradication of the privileges and powers of criminal gangs in the operation of this prison, a better distribution of inmates and the institutional and effective presence of the State in a territory partially kidnapped by crime for years." The Ministry of Justice indicated in a statement.
The operation includes members of various forces from the National Police, the National Armed Forces, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of National Defense, the National Intelligence Secretariat, as well as other state and civil institutions and services.
Policia Nacional en operacion con las FFAA, toman el control del Penal de Tacumbu. Las personas privadas de su libertad serán trasladadas a espacios que garanticen su seguridad.#GobiernoDelParaguay pic.twitter.com/XENpYILFyw
— Ministerio del Interior - Paraguay (@minteriorpy) December 18, 2023
In this sense, the ministry detailed that there will be a security cordon that cannot be jumped until the end of the operations to protect the physical safety of citizens, relatives of inmates, neighbors or passersby and that "the task will remain in progress until the causes that motivate it are cancelled."
