Paraguayan senator to propose condemning Lula's statements on War of the Triple Alliance

Senator Eduardo Nakayama of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party (PLRA) announced he will introduce a motion to repudiate statements made by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Lula claimed that Paraguay initiated the War of the Triple Alliance by allegedly invading Mato Grosso do Sul. This assertion has sparked significant reaction, though Paraguay's government under Santiago Peña has remained silent.

Historians have widely refuted Lula's claim, pointing to Brazil's military intervention in Uruguay's civil war as the conflict's true starting point. The Paraguayan Congress also established October 12, 1864, as the war's commencement date due to this event. Senator Nakayama stated that Lula's remarks warrant a response from Paraguay's executive and legislative branches.

Nakayama plans to present a "sobre tablas" (immediate consideration) motion to condemn Lula's affirmations. He intends to reaffirm the chronological and historical sequence of events, arguing that Lula's statement constitutes a "gross and grave omission." Nakayama specifically cited Paraguayan Chancellor José Bergés's note on August 30, 1864, to the Brazilian envoy in Asunción, warning against Brazil's actions, as evidence of Paraguay's attempts to avert the conflict.

Nakayama also recalled Brazil's historical expansionist and interventionist policies in Latin America. He noted that before its nationhood, Paraguay was part of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, and regional countries, particularly Uruguay, sought guarantees of sovereignty. Brazil's actions, Nakayama argued, violated these regional understandings and ultimately led to the devastating war, which is considered a genocide due to the immense loss of Paraguayan lives.

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I am going to present a request for immediate consideration where we will request a repudiation and rejection of President Lula's affirmations and, above all, also reaffirming what is the succession of events from the chronological and historical point of view, since Lula made a gross and grave omission, leaving aside what was really the beginning of the War of the Triple Alliance, the main cause of which was the invasion of the Empire of Brazil into Uruguay despite the warnings that the Paraguayan government, through the note of August 30, 1864, had made by Chancellor José Bergés to the Brazilian chargé d'affaires in Asunción, César Sauván Viana de Lima.