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| Police said they were caught by surprise by the violent resistance they encountered |
Nine
landless farmers in Paraguay have been charged with murder after six police
officers died during clashes in eastern Canindeyu province.
The six
officers were shot dead on Friday when they attempted to evict about 100
farming families from land they had invaded three weeks ago.
At least
nine farmers were also killed in the clashes. Police had earlier put the number
of officers killed at seven.
President
Fernando Lugo has ordered the army to the area to restore calm.
Territorial
disputes are not unusual in Paraguay, but the incident on Friday was the most
violent for decades.
Police said
one of the police officers hurt in the confrontation remained in a serious
condition.
Relatives
of the landless farmers said they had found two more bodies at the site of the
clashes, bringing the number of dead civilians to 11, but there has not yet
been official confirmation of the find.
Murder
charges
Police said
the nine suspects, one of them a 15-year-old boy, were all in custody. They
said some of them were being treated for injuries sustained during the eviction
attempt.
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| Landless farmers had occupied the property in Canindeyu, 240km north-east of Asuncion weeks ago |
They have
been charged with murder, attempted murder and criminal association.
The
confrontation started in the early hours of Friday, when police moved in on
private land which had been occupied by more than 100 landless farmers.
According
to police official Walter Gomez the officers were ambushed in a wooded area.
He said
they had not been expecting violence and had wanted to negotiate a
"peaceful eviction". Mr Gomez said his officers had been attacked
"with high-calibre weapons".
Among those
killed was the chief of the Police Special Operations Force, Erven Lovera.
Battle for
land
Farmers'
leader Jose Rodriguez told Paraguayan radio that those killed "were humble
farmers, members of the landless movement, who'd decided to stay and
resist".
The farmers
said the land was illegally taken during the 1954-1989 military rule of Gen
Alfredo Stroessner and distributed among his allies.
According
to the Paraguayan Truth Commission, 6.75 million hectares of land were sold or
handed over under "irregular circumstances" during military rule.
The
Commission says that almost 20% of Paraguayan land can be qualified as
"ill-gotten gains".
Interior
Minster Carlos Filizzola and Chief of Police Paulino Rojas were replaced over
the incident.
The new
Interior Minister, Ruben Candia, said that the evictions would continue, and
that they would be carried out "with the full backing of the law".
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