Deputy Esteban Samaniego (ANR-HC) adds another violent incident to his political record. Saturday night, in Quyquyhó, his bodyguard, who was driving the pickup truck, lightly hit another vehicle during a maneuver. According to accounts from witnesses who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, the bodyguard and the deputy himself got out of the car and began assaulting the occupants of the other vehicle. One witness stated that Samaniego was armed.
The victims were identified as Nicolás Flecha, who received several blows, and Ángel Azcona, who suffered verbal aggression and property damage. Azcona stated that he will not report the case, but wants Samaniego to pay for the vehicle repair. As of Sunday noon, no complaint had been filed at the local police station, but the officers who responded to the incident drafted a memo describing the fight.
Samaniego has been reported three times for violent behavior, but has never been prosecuted due to parliamentary immunity. In 2019, he assaulted a woman at the Defensores del Chaco stadium; in the same year, he assaulted then-Senator Jorge Querey in the parking lot of the National Congress. In 2021, he assaulted a candidate for councilor in Quyquyhó during the elections. All requests to lift his immunity were shelved in the Chamber of Deputies.