Attorney Lalo Gómez, the name by which Eulalio Gómez Batista is known, said political influence directly reaches judicial decisions in Coronel Oviedo and throughout the Caaguazú department. He said this interference would result in poor administration of justice in the region.
In contact with broadcaster El Observador Radio TV, Gómez said legal professionals feel harmed by politicians’ role in the administration of justice. He also said colleagues in other judicial districts in Paraguay perceive the problem of delays and political interference.
“We legal professionals feel affected by poor administration and by politicians’ intrusion into the administration of justice in the Caaguazú region,” he said. In the attorney’s assessment, the influence could reach basic procedural acts: according to his account, a single telephone call from an authority would be enough for a legally filed motion to “get lost.”
The attorney further argued that Freemasonry’s influence would have longer tentacles than political power. He alleged that this network had “invaded” or “taken over” the Supreme Court of Justice, courts and lower courts throughout Paraguay.
Gómez said the alleged Masonic influence had previously been denounced by Supreme Court of Justice Justice Minister Manuel Ramírez Candia, when he served as superintendent of the Caaguazú judicial district. The statement was presented in the interview as a reference to previous allegations attributed to the justice, without details about the dates or the full content of those statements.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office — the body responsible for criminal investigations and prosecutions in Paraguay, with its own institutional functions — was also included by the attorney among the structures that, in his view, would not escape political influence. Gómez made the allegations, which were reproduced from the contact conducted by the broadcaster; they do not constitute an institutional conclusion about specific decisions or bodies.
He also said that, given this situation, his generation might not live to see an independent administration of justice in the country. The material released with the interview does not include a response from the Supreme Court of Justice, the Public Prosecutor’s Office or Ramírez Candia to the statements.