AMERICA/PARAGUAY - Demonstrations against corruption among politicians and mismanagement of the pandemic

Tuesday, 9 March 2021 coronavirus   corruption   healthcare   politics   human rights   episcopal conferences  

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Asuncion (Agenzia Fides) - For four days, demonstrations, even violent, have followed in the capital of Paraguay, Asunción, aimed at protesting against the corruption of local politicians and against the management of the pandemic by the authorities. A public statement by the country’s President, Mario Abdo Benítez, announced the resignation of the Minister of Public Education, the Minister for Women and the Head of the Civil Cabinet.

The Paraguayan Bishops' Conference (CEP) called for "the legitimate indignation of the population" to be heard, referring to the demonstration in front of Congress against the lack of drugs to deal with Covid-19, a demonstration that was repressed by the Police using rubber bullets. The CEP also stressed that the exercise of authority is weakened "when the effectiveness and moral correctness of those who occupy positions of responsibility are not up to the situation".
The Bishops' note sent to Fides further indicates: "A transversal factor is constituted by the corruption existing in the administration of public resources, which seriously offends people, weakens the credibility necessary to generate unity, hindering a positive national dialogue focused on solutions for all".
Likewise, the Bishops observe that the action of the police and subsequent clashes, which left a dozen injured, could have been avoided "within the framework of civilization and an intelligent security strategy aimed at identifying and to reduce high risk sources".
The CEP recalls that demonstrating peacefully "is a right of every citizen, who requires gestures, actions and, above all, results in terms of public management through the punctual supply of the equipment, supplies and drugs necessary to meet the priority needs of the population affected by the disease".
In these particolar moments, the mobilization of the population continues, who is demonstrating and taking to the streets against the inefficiency of the health system, another weakness of the country highlighted during the pandemic which has killed around 3,200 people and is experiencing in recent weeks a sustained increase in the number of cases which has put hospitals and dispensaries in crisis. (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 9/3/2021)


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