Drama in PP

Taito is one of my closest friends in Potrero Pucu. He lives on a beautiful, lush parcel of land, and he makes his living by raising pigs, farming, and working for other land owners in the area. People respect him because he works hard, and has a gentle, self-effacing humor. He also has several children.

The other day I went to visit him, and we were sitting in the twilight when I asked him, “Taito, when are we going to restucco your floor?”

“I don’t know, Santo,” he said. “I have a big problem.”

That much is true. Taito life has plummeted into Steinbeckian depths in the last year beyond fathoming.

About six or seven months ago, Taito’s wife, Celestina, picked up and moved to Buenos Aires with the couple’s two daughters, Lorena, 19, and Andrea, 8. Taito, now in his late 40s, got her pregnant when she was in her late teens, and the two have been married ever since. It was a chaotic marriage, from the gossip flying around the community. Taito was abusive at times, and Celestina frequently provoked him. She certainly resented him, even going so far as telling me how her life hadn’t turned how she wanted it to in front of her husband. (Talk about awkward.)

So one day she upped and left, taking her two daughters, first to the pueblo 8km away, then Asuncion, and finally Buenos Aires.

That would be rough enough to deal with. But last week, a man in a neighboring community was shot to death. The assailants shot him in the neck and chest three times. The murder shocked everyone – after all, the biggest drama out here is usually a cow getting stolen, and here was a man shot THREE TIMES! But they were even more surprised when the police showed up in Potrero Pucu looking for Ale and Gonzalo – two well-liked local 15-year-olds. Gonzalo is Taito’s son, no less. The victim was one of the wealthy landowners he often worked for.

To say the community was flabbergasted would be a bit of an understatement.

The police alleged that Gonzalo, Ale, and a third boy had been involved in the shooting, and as information became more forthcoming, it became clear that the police believed that Gonzalo was the principal architect of the crime. He borrowed a rifle from Ale on the pretext of going hunting, went to his father’s boss’s house, and tried to rob the man.

But pretty much every family in the campo has a pistol or rifle for self protection. And so the victim emerged from his house with a gun (apparently) shot at Gonzalo.

The fact that he is in jail is bad enough. But under the circumstances in which Gonzalo allegedly killed the victim, many people around here worry that the victim’s family will try to avenge his death by killing him in prison, or killing Taito or Gonzalo’s younger brother, Milder.

A big problem, indeed.

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UPDATE

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So apparently one of the big problems in rural Paraguay - who knew - is the consumption of crack cocaine. (I should preface this by saying I have never seen anything like that in person, but hey, that's what people around here say)

Apparently, Gonzalo fell in with the wrong kids and started smoking the stuff. This is not totally surprising in retrospect. He told me a few times about how he used to race motorcycles on the newly constructed pavement five miles from PP. This is a 14-year-old, mind you, racing at up to 120-130mph on the equivalent of a souped-up Vespa.

In my earlier version of this post, I told you Gonzalo borrowed a rifle from another kid in my community, Ale. A third student from my community was also involved, though it's still not clear in what capacity. But Gonzalo and his two accomplices are scattered in jails around the country. Ale is in Villarrica, about three hours east of Asuncion, the other two in jails closer to the capital. There fates are unknown at this point, but they definitely did the deed. Their trials look to begin in a few weeks.

Taito was in terrible shape shortly after the incident, not surprisingly. He looked wan, and he must have lost 15lbs from the strain of it all. He looks a bit better now. His mother and friends rallied around him, as did his neighbors in Potrero Pucu, who had a meeting after the murder to basically provide a communal show of support for him. Fears about a revenge murder have thankfully not panned out. More as events warrant...