In Paraguay, an old paradise of corruption, popular demonstrations give results

The global anti-corruption monitoring organization Transparency International describes Paraguay as a "monolith in the study of corruption". In other words, a country that offers a case study on the difficulty of recovering from a dictatorship that institutionalizes corruption. This type of study may have to write a new chapter now that Paraguayans have introduced new weapons into the battle: toilet paper and eggs.

Paraguay, a small landlocked country in the center of South America with a population of less than seven million, has long experienced conflict, revolutions and a coup. State, followed by 35 years of autocratic government led by General Alfredo. Stroessner, a serial violator of human rights who encouraged corruption. "Corruption is the price of peace," he said.

The country has not yet freed from this yoke despite multiple and difficult efforts. Several institutions were created to fight corruption, but they ran into corruption habits that were deeply rooted in politics and the judiciary. In Transparency International's "Corruption Perception Index", which measures the level of perceived corruption among public sector officials in the South American region, the only country lying below of Paraguay (tie with Bolivia), is Venezuela. In addition, according to Latinobarómetro, a voting organization of Latin America, Paraguayans have one of the lowest levels of support for democracy in Latin America. General Stroessner's Colorado party has been in power since his overthrow in a military coup in 1989, with the exception of a four-year period. Acting President Mario Abdo Benítez belongs to the party's conservative wing. his father was the dictator's personal secretary.

This does not mean that Paraguayans, or their elected leaders, are necessarily conbadly addicted to malfeasance and corruption as a way of life. This means that countries with a long history of widespread and systemic corruption, often as a result of an autocratic regime, face enormous hurdles to eradicate this scourge as it infects institutions, policies and institutions. the courts necessary to fight it.

Maria Esther Roa did not give up. According to Ernesto Londoño and Santi Carneri in the Times, Roa, a criminal lawyer from Paraguay, and other organizers, mostly women, decided that it was enough for Senator José María Ibáñez to admit to having used public funds to pay them. The employees of his country house survived the vote on his dismissal. Since the responsible institutions did not respond, Roa decided to try public humiliation.

The day after the failure of the vote on the senator's dismissal, Roa met activists outside Ibáñez's home to break pots and pans, while chanting "Fuera Ibáñez!". and they covered the house with toilet paper and raw eggs, which quickly began to stink. To the amazement of all, Ibáñez resigned.

Two other senators followed him. Prosecutors promptly lodged complaints against five other officials and opened investigations on several others. As door-to-door demonstrations, called escraches, multiplied and spread on social networks, politicians and their partners began to be rejected in restaurants or luxury beauty salons.

Those who oppose escraches said that they could become violent, that they destroyed reputations without prior judgment, that they terrorized families. In fact, there have been acts of violence, both by the protesters and against them, that concern Roa. However, in a society that seems to be caught in an unbreakable cycle of corruption, she and her colleagues see protests and public humiliation as weapons of last resort. "At least we have hope," said one activist. "Before, we had nothing."

If it works, the small country of Paraguay can be considered a "monolith in the study of the fight against corruption". A look at Transparency International's list shows that many countries are in desperate need of a jolt to break with their patterns of embezzlement, corruption and impunity.

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