Lalo Gomes
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25 January 1956
Lalo Gomes | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2023 | |
| Deputy of Paraguay | |
| In office 30 June 2023 – 19 August 2024 | |
| Constituency | Amambay |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Eulalio Gomes Batista 25 January 1956 |
| Died | 19 August 2024 (aged 68) Pedro Juan Caballero, Amambay Department, Paraguay |
| Party | Colorado |
| Spouse | Joana Izabel Rodrigues |
| Children | 4 |
| Occupation |
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Eulalio "Lalo" Gomes Batista (25 January 1956 – 19 August 2024) was a Brazilian-born Paraguayan[1] politician and businessman. He served as a deputy of Paraguay from 2023 to 2024, when he was shot dead by police during a raid on his home after an indictment was filed against him for money laundering linked to drug trafficking.
Early years
Before entering politics, Gomes worked as manager of Banco Paraná in Brazil and of Banco Amambay (now Banco Basa), which belonged to the family of Horacio Cartes, according to Gomes's sister.[2]
Gomes first entered politics in the Regional Office in the Department of Amambay of the Asociación Rural de Paraguay (ARP, "Rural Association of Paraguay"), of which he was president for several years. His grandfather and father were also dedicated to livestock.[2]
Gomes stood as a candidate for deputy for the Colorado Party, initially being a member of the internal movement Fuerza Republicana, which initially had then-incumbent Vice President Hugo Velázquez as its presidential candidate, and after Velázquez declined, Gomes continued to support his replacement, Arnoldo Wiens.[2] After Gomes's candidacy was confirmed in the Colorado Party primaries, he moved to the Honor Colorado movement. On his social media profiles he appeared repeatedly with the movement's presidential candidate (and eventual president of Paraguay) Santiago Peña during the electoral campaign and, at the same time, he boasted of repeated meetings with former employer Horacio Cartes, who by then was a former president of Paraguay and was the incumbent president of the Colorado Party; one of Gomes' last public appearances was visiting Cartes at his home after Tabacalera del Este S. A. (TABESA) was sanctioned by the United States for financially supporting Cartes, whom the United States designated as "significantly corrupt."[2]
National Deputy of Paraguay
In the 2023 Paraguayan general election, Gomes was elected deputy in the 72nd place of 80 available seats. In the same elections, his sister Olga was elected as a departmental councilwoman and the Colorados regained power in Amambay with Juan Silvino Acosta as governor, who was reportedly close to Gomes, but said was unaware of the illegal activities attributed to him.[2]
Like other legislators who are dedicated to livestock, Gomes defended the interests of the livestock sector, such as the creation of a Rural University of Paraguay in the Rural Association of Paraguay and the prohibition of the production of cultured meat grown in laboratories, among others.[2] He was vice president of the Agriculture and Livestock Commission of Congress.[2]
Links with Jarvis Chimenes Pavão
Gomes and his son, Alexandre Rodrigues Gomes, were subjected to a 54-page indictment stemming from Operation Pavo Real, which targeted a criminal organization led by Jarvis Chimenes Pavão, convicted for collaborating with the Primeiro Comando da Capital.[2] According to the investigation, Gomes and his son allegedly "used their influence and experience" in the livestock and related sectors to move funds from drug trafficking and other illegal activities within the financial system.[2] More specifically, the investigation stated that Gomes provided financial assistance to Pavão's group when its structure was weakened by the processes faced by several of its members, and that in this sense, Gomes and his son bought in 2020 the Negla Poty ranch, owned by Pavão, located in Bella Vista Norte, in the Department of Amambay.[2]