The opposition calls for the resignation of the president and threatens to open impeachment
The President of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez - PRESIDENCY OF PARAGUAY - ARCHIVE
MARCH 6, 2021
The president of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez, has asked all the ministers of his government to make their positions available and has promised to "listen" to the public after the massive protests on Friday that left at least 21 injured. The Minister of Information and Communication Technologies, Juan Manuel Brunetti, has appeared to explain the measure taken by Abdo Benítez, meeting with his Government in the Mburuvicha Róga, official headquarters of the Presidency, to discuss the situation. "I come to announce to you, on behalf of the president, that he has listened to the citizens. He calls for peace, calm among Paraguayans, respects peaceful demonstrations. In that sense, today he has summoned his cabinet and asked all its members to make their positions available, "explained Brunetti in statements collected by the Paraguayan newspaper 'ABC Color'. Brunetti has also announced a press conference by Abdo Benítez to report on the changes within his cabinet. The minister stressed that the president has taken into account citizen reaction and protests to make the decision to demand that his ministers make their positions available. "In due course, today he is going to talk to the citizens, he is going to announce the changes. What we want is for them to know that the message of the citizens reached the President," he indicated. At least 21 people have been injured in the mobilization on Friday against the Government of Paraguay in protest of corruption and the management of the health system, with health professionals demanding supplies to be able to face the coronavirus pandemic. New mobilizations are called for this Sunday. "INFILTRATED" Interior Minister Arnaldo Giuzzio declared on Friday after the incidents that the violence had been provoked by a group of "infiltrators" who were not part of the protesters. Already on Saturday, Giuzzio announced that the Legal Department of the Police and the Public Ministry will present a criminal charge against these "infiltrators." "The report that we received and after sight it was perfectly clear that a group was demonstrating, jumping and at one point an order was given and the disturbance began. The demonstration was absolutely peaceful," he explained, while pointing to "bars. bravas ", soccer fans, for the riots. Giuzzio has assured that President Abdo Benítez "wants peace", and more so in times of pandemic, so that "from Friday the police were asked to go to the march without weapons, repression was not ordered." "The President accepts and is aware of this citizen demonstration. That is what the Democrats do. He has children, he has a family and does not want conflicts and less in times of pandemic. The President, despite his strongest past, is one of the greatest Democrats. He has people in his cabinet who are not red, "he stressed. Meanwhile, from the opposition, they have called for the resignation of the president and vice president Hugo Velázquez and have warned that otherwise they will promote a political trial and have called on the population to continue with the mobilizations. They have also rejected any possibility of negotiating with the ruling party. "They have to go, the president and vice president have to go. We are meeting to see a work plan. We have paid for vaccines that are not available today," argued Efraín Alegre, from the Liberal Party. For his part, the representative of the Guazú Front, Carlos Filizzola, has also supported the "legitimate right" to demonstrate and has condemned the police repression. "We urge the public to continue mobilizing. Mario Abdo and Hugo Velázquez have to leave," he stressed, while also opting for the president of Congress, Óscar Salomón, to assume leadership and immediately call elections. In this sense, he has rejected the resignations of ministers announced by the Presidency because "a change of names does not work, you have to change the model." RESPONSE OF OFFICIALISM Meanwhile, Abdo Benítez's Colorado Party has announced the cancellation of the "peace marches" proposed to respond in the streets to the protests against the president and his leaders have assured that it is a precautionary measure to avoid coronavirus infections . The official senator Silvio Ovelar has appeared at the presidential headquarters to explain that Abdo Benítez respects citizen demands and peaceful protest and that "this is not the time" to carry out the march for peace. "Obviously there are many people who still see the government of Mario Abdo Benítez favorably and they also have the right to demonstrate but we consider that it is not a good time," he said.
++ The Government has recently admitted that there was a shortage of drugs to treat COVID-19 patients and that almost all intensive care beds in public hospitals were full. Faced with this situation, the Minister of Health, Julio Mazzoleni, resigned this Friday. Paraguay is at record highs in infections, with more than 1,500 new cases a day and more than 300 patients admitted to intensive care units, so the health system is under enormous pressure. The country accumulates 165,811 cases and 3,278 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.