ABIN espionage “opens old wounds”, says president of Paraguay

The president of Paraguay, Santiago Peña, said on Friday (5) that the espionage promoted by the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin) against Paraguayan authorities “opens old wounds” and puts in check regional integration efforts in Mercosur.

In an interview with Mitre radioFrom Argentina, the head of state recalled the Paraguayan War and said the episode hurts the confidence built between the countries over the years.

“Paraguay has a very hard story in the region. In a moment in our history, we face an extermination war, as was the Triple Alliance War, mainly led by Brazil. Brazil has been in Paraguayan territory for almost a decade. These are wounds that we are seeking to heal – and this episode, unfortunately, opens these old wounds,” said Peña.

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The statement occurs after the portal UOL reveal that ABIN, under the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government, performed a hacker operation to access confidential information about the negotiation of the Itaipu hydroelectric power plant. The operation would have continued at the beginning of the government Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) and was only closed in March 2023, after the current management became aware of the action.

In an official note, the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the existence of the operation, but attributed the action exclusively to the previous government, noting that the spying was interrupted as soon as it discovered.

Itaipu negotiations suspended

Peña stated that, given the revelation, his government decided to suspend negotiations with Brazil about the Itaipu tariff until the episode is properly clarified. He also revealed that Paraguay gave in to Brazilian pressures in the negotiations held in 2023 and now sees with “tremendous concern” the discovery of the spy operation.

“We want to propose a relationship of friendship, partners, friends, that allows us to build a stronger Mercosur. We are unfortunately in this impasse,” said the Paraguayan President.

The president also stated that cyber attacks are common from countries such as China, and that the United States help Paraguay to protect themselves digitally. However, he stressed that he never expected this type of action from Brazil, which classifies as a “brother country”.

“There are cybership that comes from China. The United States are helping intensely, but we never imagined that we would be targets of espionage by Brazilians,” concluded Peña.