HC Deb 16 January 1978 vol 942 c10W
Mr. George

asked the Minister of Overseas Development if, following the recent report by Survival International, " The Forest Indians in Stroessner's Paraguay: Survival or Extinction? " which documents the systematic extermination of the Aché people, she will withdraw all British Government aid to Paraguay.

Mr. Tomlinson

As I said in reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Derby, North (Mr. Whitehead) on 14th November—[Vol. 939, c. 23]—human rights in Paraguay as in all other areas of the world are taken seriously into account in any decision that my right hon. Friend makes in relation to expenditure from the aid programme. But, as she has also made clear to the House, the programme for Paraguay consists only of a modest technical co-operation programme which is concentrated almost exclusively on help to small cultivators and livestock farmers, and I cannot, therefore, accept that any useful purpose would be served by its abrupt withdrawal.

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