Politician and Farm Hand: A Tale of Two Paraguayan Prisoners

Extract

From February to July, 1978, no one would confirm to Gumercindo Britez's mother that he was a prisoner in the Department of Investigations, but she knew. She returned to Paraguay from northern Argentina as soon as she heard; every day she sat in the Investigations waiting room, hoping some policeman would finally tell her, or that some other prisoner's relatives might have seen or heard of her son.

In contrast, it took Rafaela Laino only a few hours to obtain confirmation that her husband was at Investigations. Like every other wife and mother whose family members have been arrested, she went from one police station to another with a package of clothing, hoping that somewhere a policeman would accept it and thus formally acknowledge her husband's detention. But Rafaela's quest was different: Diplomats from three countries were also inquiring after Domingo Laino, a leader of Paraguay's largest opposition party.