MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine mayor says hitmen chased him while in Paraguay

Basualdo insisted he was not aligned with Insfrán's faction within Formosa's Peronist Party

Atilio Basualdo, the Mayor of the Argentine city of Las Lomitas in the province of Formosa said Sunday that hitmen had tried to kill him while visiting neighboring Asunción in Paraguay on Saturday afternoon. He also hinted Formosa's Peronist Governor Gildo Insfran could have been involved.

“They were trying to silence me here,” Basualdo told Paraguayan Police who arrested two suspects, who were found to be Formosa police officers.

Basualdo told ABC Color that after crossing into Paraguayan territory, he noticed that two motorcycles with two passengers each were tailing him. “They were coming from a fairly safe distance behind us,” but his son's girlfriend recorded them to confirm that they were being followed. After failing to lose them, Basualdo and his family went into a restaurant. He then realized that the motorcyclists were looking for them at every store on the block, so they called 911 and Paraguayan police responded, resulting in the arrest of Brian Matías Sebastián Genes and Alejandro Cecilio Portillo, who were riding a motorcycle belonging to Argentina's Justice Ministry.

The mayor explained that, like Insfrán, he is a Justicialist (Peronist) Party member, albeit not aligned with the Governor's faction. By killing him in Paraguay, the Government of Formosa could claim not to have any involvement, the mayor explained. It is not uncommon for Formosa Police to have hitmen among its ranks, Basualdo also argued. “I hope this does not happen again,” he stressed.

After the incident, Basualdo was escorted by Paraguayan Police to the border, from where Argentina's Border Guard (Gendarmería Nacional) took over.

The two suspects were wearing civilian clothing and claimed to have entered Paraguay as tourists. No guns were found in their possession and Prosecutor Ariela Chaparro ordered their release the same day.

“This is a clear intention to silence us in the neighboring country, where Governor Gildo Insfrán would have neither blame nor charges,” said the mayor's son Pablo in a video he posted on Instagram.