In the last two years, the violence and visibility of the conflict between the Paraguayan State and the Paraguayan People's Army (EPP) has escalated significantly, due to the appearance of new weapons, tactics, and increasing involvement of foreign advisers on both sides as each has adapted to gain advantage over the other. Although the nature of the EPP has become somewhat clearer, many areas still need to be better understood in order for the Paraguayan state to effectively defeat this threat, which it can still do at relatively low cost if it adopts the right strategy and takes appropriate action. This article provides some of that understanding by identifying the events and breakthroughs which occurred in roughly two phases: government offensive (2010) and EPP adaptation (2011). The author concludes that groups such as the EPP are not merely police/justice problems, but state problems, and the most successful states are those that recognize this early and employ all the elements of national power to deal with the problem not only to reduce or eliminate the violence, but to prevent its regeneration.
