Armed Peasant Association

Armed Peasant Association
Agrupación Campesina Armada
The Armed Peasant Association used several varieties of this flag, usually with different logos in the centre.
Country	Paraguay
Leader(s)	Albino Jara Larrea (alias "Milciades Leon") † Alfredo Jara Larrea (alias "Jose Villaverde") † Idilio Morínigo †
Dates of operation	2014–2016(remnants still active in 2017)
Split from	Paraguayan People's Army (EPP)
Active region(s)	Concepción Department, Amambay Department
Ideology	Marxism–Leninism
Political position	Far-left
Major actions	Drug trafficking (government claims), murder, theft, extortion, kidnapping
Status	Mostly defunct
Size	~13 (in 2014) ~4 (in late 2016)
Means of revenue	Illegal drug trade (alleged), ransom

The Armed Peasant Association (Spanish: Agrupación Campesina Armada, short ACA, less commonly Armed Campesino Group) was a leftist rebel group that took part in the insurgency in Paraguay between 2014 and 2016. Formed as splinter faction of the Paraguayan People's Army (EPP) by two brothers, Albino and Alfredo Jara Larrea, ACA began to decline almost immediately after its foundation as result of repeated raids and arrests by the Paraguayan security forces. After the death of most of its members and leaders, the group is mostly defunct.

The formation of ACA was the result of dissent among the EPP. One of the rebel group's columns which was led by the Jara Larrea brothers had long harbored resentment for the EPP central leadership, allegedly because the brothers had been berated for their indiscipline, including drunkenness, partying, looting and womanizing. After the Larrea faction received a ransom of over one million Paraguayan guaraní (over $230,000) in June 2014 for a kidnapped businessman from Yby Yau, the group had enough funds to become independent. In September 2014, the Larrea brothers and their followers fully broke away from the EPP and formed the Armed Peasant Association; the group was initially believed to have around 13 members.

According to the government, ACA modeled itself on the Colombian FARC and wanted to become involved in the illegal drug trade in Paraguay through taxation or extortion of marijuana farmers; an expert from InSight Crime considered this assumption likely, as one ACA member, Ruben Dario Lopez Fernandez, was known to have close links with the First Catarinense Group, a Brazilian crime group.

Soon after ACA's foundation, however, the group was targeted by the Paraguayan security forces in course of several raids between 19 to 21 September, with around five ACA fighters killed. Having thus lost about a third of its strength, including the "key fighter" Marcos Ojeda, ACA was already seriously weakened just after its conception. This quick weakening suggested that ACA lacked "the level of professionalism" and civilian support that EPP enjoyed. ACA's decline continued afterwards, and already on 5 January 2015 the Joint Task Force managed to corner the group east of Concepción. In course of the following shootout Albino Jara Larrea was killed and several other militants injured, further reducing ACA's fighting strength. In an attempt to replenish its numbers, ACA recruited child soldiers; there were also accounts that some female child soldiers married older ACA fighters.