TRACKING TRENDS

PARAGUAY | Oviedo seeks compensation. Retired General Lino Oviedo demanded G$100bn (US$20m) in compensation from the Paraguayan state for “moral damages" caused by his 10-year sentence for carrying out a coup in 1996: he was absolved in 2007 having spent three years behind bars and the rest as a fugitive from justice in Brazil. Oviedo's lawyer, Oscar Tuma, a deputy for his party, Unace, said it was “a reasonable amount for a person who was deprived of his liberty for so many years and had to go into exile". The interior minister, Rafael Filizzola, said the claim was “absurd", adding that “the shamelessness of Oviedo knows no bounds". He said Oviedo was only absolved because of a political accord with the Partido Colorado which used its influence over the judiciary. Oviedo is mooting legal action against Filizzola for slander.
President Fernando Lugo accused Oviedo of planning a coup against him soon after he took office in August last year. In recent weeks, Oviedo has accused Lugo of seeking to carry out an institutional coup by means of a referendum to convene a constituent assembly to reform congress and the supreme court. Lugo vetoed the senate designation of Agustí­n Lovera Cañete as a supreme court judge on 25 August on the grounds that it responded to “strictly political interests".

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