Acevedo, mayor of the capital of the department of Amambay, which borders Brazil, was reportedly shot in front of the City Hall of Justice, after leaving a meeting at the city hall.
A witness who spoke to NPY television reported that he was talking to the mayor when a hooded individual got out of a vehicle and pointed his gun at them. This witness assured that both ran to protect themselves from the shots, but the mayor ended up being hit.
Upon learning of the incident, the Minister of the Interior of Paraguay, Federico González, regretted the attack and assured that the city of Pedro Juan Caballero “is surrounded by police agents”.
“We are in contact with our colleagues, Brazilian authorities, who are doing the same in support and coordination with the police forces Paraguayans,” González told reporters.
The minister, who immediately traveled to the city together with the commander of the National Police, Commissioner Gilberto Fleitas, refrained from giving details of the attack, in addition to confirming that the mayor was undergoing surgery.
18093131In turn, a police source told radio station Unicanal that shortly after the attack they were alerted by a passerby about a vehicle that had yes abandoned and burned on the outskirts of the city. The car had a Brazilian Mercosur license plate, this official added, although he admitted that the license plate was “completely incinerated”.
The attack took place hours after authorities reported a shooting in which two individuals traveling in a vehicle in Pedro Juan Caballero lost their lives.
Regarding the attack on the mayor, the governor of Amambay and the victim’s brother, Ronald Acevedo, told journalists that the Paraguayan president, Mario Abdo Benítez, “is responsible for what is happening” in the city.
“The mafia is eating away at our country”, complained the governor at the hospital where the mayor was being treated, adding that his brother “is in serious condition”.
In October of 2021, the daughter of the governor of Amambay, Haylee Acevedo, was killed in an attack in which three other people lost their lives.
