Paraguay: scandal after accusations of abuse and torture of cadets at the military academy

Soldiers at a military parade in Paraguay.

(Illustration) AFP - NORBERTO DUARTE

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

Cadets and cadets victims of abuse and torture.

For days the media in Paraguay have echoed the dramas unfolding within the Military Academy.

This weekend, the Paraguayan president, Mario Abdo Benitez, ended up dismissing the commander of this institution.

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A scandal splatters the army of

.

Shortly before his dismissal following revelations of abuse within the military academy, General César Caballero said again that the Paraguayan army had nothing to hide.

However, a 21-year-old cadet is currently in intensive care in a military hospital with bruised lungs.

“ 

 ,” assured the commander of the military academy.

Beatings, sleep deprivation and torture

But this is the case too much and for several days, tongues have been loosened in Paraguay.

The relatives of the victims report the abuse suffered by new recruits of the Military Academy: beatings, sleep deprivation or the use of instruments of torture on the hands and feet.

On several occasions, a victim's head was plunged into a bucket full of vomit.

The alleged perpetrators of these acts are cadets from the upper classes of the institution.

The command of the Military Academy would however have been aware of the facts but the victims who dared to report them to the hierarchy were banished.

This weekend, the Attorney General of Paraguay announced the opening of an investigation.

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• Paraguay