The armed group known as the Ejército del Pueblo Paraguayo (EPP) has carried out at least 17 kidnappings since 2001, collecting over 3 million dollars in ransom payments, in addition to forcing families to distribute supplies valued at nearly 1 million dollars. The first recorded kidnapping was that of María Edith Bordón de Debernardi in November 2001, who was held captive for 63 days before being released in Asunción.
Among the best-known victims is Cecilia Mariana Cubas Gusinky, kidnapped in 2004 and murdered in captivity despite a ransom payment of 300,000 dollars. Another emblematic case was Luis Alberto Lindstron Picco, kidnapped in 2008 in the north of the country, who was freed after 43 days but was killed in 2013 after refusing to continue paying extortion to the group.
Other notorious kidnappings include Fidel Santiago Zavala Serrati, held for 94 days in 2009, and Arlan Fick Bremm, who spent 267 days in captivity in 2014. Police sub-officer Edelio Morínigo was kidnapped in July 2014 and remains missing to this day. Tragic cases also marked the kidnappings of the couple Robert Natto and Érika Reiser, murdered in 2015, and Abrahán Fehr Banman, whose body was only found in 2018.
The EPP also kidnapped victims by mistake, such as Franz Wiebe Boschman, who was held for 213 days before being released following the delivery of supplies worth 100,000 dollars. In other cases, such as Félix Urbieta Ramírez, the victim was likely killed by the dissident group Ejército del Mariscal López (EML), linked to the EPP.
More recently, in 2026, Almir De Brum Da Silva was kidnapped in Curuguaty and held for 103 days, reappearing without any ransom having been paid. He is the group’s most recent victim to date. According to the Internal Defense Operations Command (CODI), the EPP has at least 13 members known to authorities, including leaders Manuel Cristaldo Mieres, known as Santiago, and Liliana Elizabeth Villalba Ayala, alias Anahí.
The EPP’s history of kidnappings reveals a pattern of extortion, violence, and murder, mainly in northern Paraguay, where the group maintains its base of operations. Authorities continue to seek solutions to combat this organization and bring justice to the victims and their families.