<a href="http://www.mutuallyassuredsurvival.com/smforums/nonobjectivelyrical.php"><!-- recognition --></a>
By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVOPublished: October 23, 2008RIO DE JANEIRO — Tensions between Brazil and Paraguay, already high because of land invasions of Brazilian-controlled farms inside Paraguay, intensified this week after Brazil’s army began exercises in the border region.Paraguay’s president, Fernando Lugo, responded sternly, warning Brazil in a news conference in Asunción, Paraguay’s capital, that “not even one millimeter of the territorial sovereignty of the country can be bothered.” If that happens, he added, “the Paraguayan reaction will be swift.”Paraguayan television this week showed armed Brazilian troops occupying the “Friendship Bridge” separating the countries at Ciudad del Este. It was a chilling scene for Paraguayans, who are bitterly aware of how their country was torn apart by Brazilian invaders in a war 140 years ago.Brazil’s maneuvers come as the Paraguayan countryside has become increasingly violent. Newspapers have been filled with accounts of deadly conflicts between the police and peasants and between peasants and armed militias controlled by Brazilian farmers. The issue is complicating the countries’ relationship and the nascent presidency of Mr. Lugo, a former Roman Catholic bishop and a champion of the poor.
