25 November 1999

Detention of army officers in Paraguay

Paraguay appears to be living up to its reputation as one of Latin America's most unstable democracies. Although the government insists that the fourteen artillery officers were arrested merely for acts of indiscipline, comments made by President Macchi on Monday helped to fuel speculation that some kind of military rebellion was being planned. The president referred to rumours, which he dismissed as false, that the former army commander, Lino Oviedo, had returned to Paraguay from his exile in Argentina.
Lino Oviedo fled the country in March after his political faction lost power in a bitter dispute within the governing Colorado Party. The authorities want to charge him with a series of political murders and have waged a campaign to try to stamp out his continuing influence over some members of the armed forces.

reputation: its name

merely: only

fuel: in this case make it (the speculation) worse

speculation:guessing about what might happen

rumours: pieces of information that may or may not be true, but that people are talking about

dismissed as false: said to be untrue

faction: an organised group of people within a larger group, with their own ideas and beliefs

bitter dispute: strong, unpleasant argument

waged: fought

to stamp out: stop