President Santiago Peña signed Decree No. 6057, officially reactivating the “Cielo Guaraní Soberano” program and creating a national inter-institutional commission to consolidate the surveillance and protection of Paraguayan airspace. The announcement was made this Tuesday at a press conference at Mburuvicha Róga, with the presence of the state’s top security authorities and the Chargé d’Affaires of the United States Embassy, Robert Alter.
The regulation seeks to integrate intelligence mechanisms, direct communication, and joint reaction to combat irregular flights, transnational organized crime, and drug trafficking. The program, whose doctrinal design originated in the Joint Task Force of the United States Southern Command, operated between 2015 and 2020 before being deactivated. Interior Minister Enrique Riera criticized previous administrations, stating that during the pause, the airspace was left unprotected, scanners were removed, and port controls were relaxed, allowing criminal organizations to use the country as a platform to contaminate containers bound for Europe.
The commander of the Paraguayan Air Force, Air Force General Julio Rubén Fullaondo, clarified that the new decree expressly enables procedures for intercepting and capturing aircraft on the ground but does not authorize shooting them down. The air shielding strategy relies on the acquisition of Super Tucano aircraft, valued at 101 million dollars and financed by a loan with funds deducted from Itaipú dividends, the repositioning of two revitalized mobile radars, and the arrival of primary radars from the United States scheduled for the end of 2027.
Once the Air Force detects and intercepts a clandestine flight, a coordinated ground response will be activated with the National Police, SENAD, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Army, and the Navy. Robert Alter ratified the support of the U.S. government through technological assistance and information exchange, a scheme that will be complemented regionally by the Binational Air Defense Standards in force with Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia.