Third day of protests in Paraguay: thousands of people demonstrated to demand the resignation of Mario Abdo Benítez

For the third day in a row, this Sunday thousands of people took to the streets to protest against the Paraguayan president, Mario Abdo Benitez, of which they accuse corruption and mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis, in particular due to the lack of necessary equipment for personnel fighting the pandemic.

The demonstrators gathered again in front of the presidential palace, Mburuvicha Róga -because of its name in Guaraní-, to demand the resignation of Abdo Benítez and announced that they would continue the daily protests until the president and vice-president, Hugo Velázquez, left., according to what was reported by the Paraguayan press.

In addition, denounce the lack of drugs for coronavirus patients, as well as the collapse of the health system, which has reached the peak of hospitalizations both in conventional factories and in intensive care. Among the many complaints, they also blame the government for the delay in the arrival of vaccines.

Protesters are calling on the government to use the $ 1.6 billion loan approved by Congress last year to deal with the pandemic, along with grants and the purchase of drugs.

Many participants displayed white shirts of the Paraguayan football team, flags of the country and banners with sentences denouncing corruption and demanding the dismissal of the authorities.

An “open megaphone” has been installed near the presidential palace so that participants can voice their demands by shouting “Out Marito” or “Until I quit, every day”.

Faced with this situation, a strong police operation guards the official residence of Abdo Benítez and fences have been erected at the four corners of the palace.

On the first day of the protests, last Friday, the mobilization was massive and mostly peaceful, although the government itself acknowledged the presence of “infiltrators” who sparked clashes with the security forces. Clashes between police and protesters left at least 21 injured and one dead.

In Saturday’s protests, there were eight detainees after the unrest late in the morning and they were released on Sunday afternoon. During this event, Abdo Benítez published a recorded television message in which he announced the change of four ministers in the name of social peace and dialogue, while committing to redouble our efforts to supply hospitals in a timely manner.

Anti-government protests started in public hospitals where relatives of COVID-19 patients and healthcare workers questioned the lack of drugs. The president said the new health minister “will be instructed to ensure the supply of necessary drugs (for patients) in a timely manner.”

After having known the consequences of the clashes between the demonstrators and the police, spokesperson for different formations, from the opposition Liberal Party to Honor Colorado, the internal faction of the Colorado Party led by former President Horacio Cartes ( 2013-2018), expressed their intention to go ahead or to explore, in the case of the more cautious, the possibility of expelling the president.

The Paraguayan president has asked all his ministers to resign, but only three have materialized: the Minister of Education, Eduardo Petta; the Minister for Women, Nilda romero, and the head of the civilian cabinet of the presidency, Juan Ernesto Villamayor.

The other renewal corresponds to the Minister of Health, Julio Borba, who provisionally replaced Friday Julio Mazzoleni, who resigned under pressure from protests from the union of nurses and relatives of Covid patients over lack of supplies and medication.

Many protesters said today that these changes will not stop the mobilizations, which are expected to continue in the coming days.

Also in the coming week The main opposition parties will meet to launch a proposal for the impeachment of Abdo Benítez in the Chamber of Deputies.

Abdo Benítez was already close to impeachment in August 2019, when he was in charge of the country for barely a year, for a secret act with Brazil to buy energy from the Itaipu dam, shared by the two countries , although he managed to save himself thanks to the support of Cartes, his internal rival.

Paraguay, which today celebrates one year since the detection of the first cases of coronavirus, has so far recorded 3,294 deaths and 166,969 infections, and a sustained increase in recent weeks as the health network has collapsed, one of the most backward in the region.

Only 24,000 doses of vaccines have arrived in the country, all reserved for health workers, a situation also exposed by the opposition and participants in the demonstrations.

With information from Europa Press, EFE and AFP

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