CIUDAD DEL ESTE, PARAGUAY – JULY 3, 2025 Brazilian man identified as 52-year-old Cássio Mussawer Montenegro entered the building of the Brazilian consulate in the Paraguayan city of Ciudad del Este, not far from the Brazilian border. He was armed with a .357 Magnum revolver, which he used to fire four to five shots at a 78-year-old consulate employee, legal advisor Prima Felícia Benítez de Cantuni. He shot her in the left arm.
Cássio Mussawer Montenegro
Immediately after the attack, Montenegro left the consulate premises. After a short while, he returned to the scene and committed suicide right in front of the main gate using the same weapon – he shot himself in the head and collapsed to the ground, dead on the spot. Cantuni was transported to the nearby Fundación Tesãi hospital, where she was treated for a gunshot wound and is currently in stable condition and out of danger.
As it was later revealed, the entire act was a planned terrorist attack. Montenegro was a repeat offender with a very extensive criminal record. He reportedly had 532 court cases against him, including 415 in the state of São Paulo and 21 in Paraná. In two apartments he had rented in Ciudad del Este, police discovered a large stockpile of ammunition, weapons, a tactical vest, and uniforms. A letter was also found in which he stated that he could no longer endure the pain and wanted to take revenge on Brazilian institutions. It is highly likely that he had originally intended to carry out a much larger massacre.
The letter
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https://en.mercopress.com/2025/07/04/woman-shot-at-brazilian-consulate-in-ciudad-del-este
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