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🇵🇾 Paraguay /Elections & Politics

Striking advance warning of judicial setback in ‘dirty campaign’ case

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Documents & data Under investigation
  • Chats presented in a case involving the alleged disinformation network La Red Desinformante suggest that lawyer Gustavo Leguizamón knew about an appellate ruling before formally joining the proceedings.
  • The June ruling halted the investigation into the Despierta Paraguay website after a two-to-one decision by the Criminal Appeals Court in Asunción.
  • The messages indicate that Leguizamón may have used privileged information to pressure Yecika Bracho, a former employee linked to the network, to remain silent.

Chats sent by lawyer Gustavo Leguizamón appear to show that he knew an appellate court would block a judicial investigation weeks before he formally joined the case. The messages have become a key element in the proceedings surrounding the alleged disinformation network known as La Red Desinformante.

The case was brought by businessman Christian Chena against Despierta Paraguay, a website accused of running a “dirty campaign.” On June 23, 2026, the Criminal Appeals Court’s First Chamber in Asunción rejected appeals filed by lawyer Alejandra Peralta against Judge Mesalina Fernández’s ruling on a request for judicial assistance. Judges Paublino Escobar and Mario Camilo Torres voted to uphold the rejection, while Judge Jesús María Riera Manzoni dissented.

The ruling stopped the investigation from advancing. The majority argued that identifying Yecika Bracho had exhausted the purpose of the case, even as ABC Color continued publishing details about the alleged structure. Bracho, a former employee in the network, recently gave a statement, and investigators have ordered the examination of chats, audio recordings and images.

I have confidential information that the Chamber’s ruling will come soon, rejecting Chena’s claims. That means the five business days will continue to run.

· Gustavo LeguizamónWhatsApp message sent to Yecika Bracho hours after the appellate ruling.

The seriousness of the matter emerged just hours after the ruling. At 5:44 p.m. on June 23, Leguizamón sent Bracho a WhatsApp message saying: “I have confidential information that the Chamber’s ruling will come soon, rejecting Chena’s claims. That means the five business days will continue to run.”

Leguizamón had already sent a revealing message on June 17. “Tomorrow I have a hearing with someone who will give me a better picture of what could happen in the appeals chamber,” he told Bracho. The following day, he said he had met “with a person who is in charge of Chena’s complaint,” who claimed the case would take time because there was no urgency and other cases had greater importance.

At that point, Leguizamón was not a party to the lawsuit or linked to the electronic case file. He formally intervened in the proceedings only on July 12. According to the report, Azafrán SA, an agency linked to Deputy Minister Alejandra Duarte, had allegedly placed him with Bracho to contain the investigation.

Tomorrow I have a hearing with someone who will give me a better picture of what could happen in the appeals chamber.

· Gustavo LeguizamónMessage sent to Bracho days before the court issued its decision.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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