Mario Abdo Benítez changes cabinet to put …

The Paraguayan executive will publish the decrees on Monday with the appointment of the four members of the cabinet dismissed by Mario Abdo Benítez, a decision with which the president will seek to deactivate the protests of the citizens self-summoned to denounce his lax management of the pandemic. Presidential sources reported on Sunday that The changes affect the Minister of Education, Eduardo Petta, the Minister of Women, Nilda Romero, and the Presidential Advisor, Juan Ernesto Villamayor.

The other renewal corresponds to the Minister of Health, Julio Borba, who replaced Julio Mazzoleni on an interim basis on Friday, who in turn resigned under pressure from protests from the union of nurses and relatives of covid-19 patients over lack of supplies and medication.

In a televised message, the president Abdo Benítez said on Saturday evening that the aim of the changes was “to contribute to dialogue and social peace” before some protests that started on Friday and continued into the night from saturday with incidents in front of the presidential residence, leaving a balance of at least 18 injured and eight arrested. For this Sunday new mobilizations were expected at the same place.

Paraguay crosses historic peaks of contagion, with more than 1,500 new cases per day and more than 300 patients admitted to intensive care units. The government recently admitted that there is a shortage of drugs to treat coronavirus patients and that almost all intensive care beds in public hospitals are occupied.