Revolution in Paraguay

On Friday 5 March thousands of people came out to demand the resignation of Mario Abdo in the streets of Asunción. From that day on, the street protests did not stop.. We interviewed our colleagues Nico G. and Juampi B. of Socialist Alternative, Paraguayan section of the LIS, to delve deeper into the process they are experiencing.

Why did the “Paraguayan March” explode?

Juampi: There are fundamentally two of the events that occurred in March that have marked the country in recent decades.: In 1999 when eight young people lost their lives amid protests and in 2017, when thousands rejected the re-election of Horacio Cartes and Congress was burned. The new Paraguayan March broke out before Mario Abdo, Who is it to face a people fed up with their rulers and the Colorado Party?. The pandemic accelerated the capitalist crisis in the world, The contradictions of the system worsened and this in Paraguay was reflected with the increase in unemployment, the attempt to strengthen repression and the taking of a million-dollar debt, loan that was distributed between ministers and ghost companies. All while hundreds of workers die from an emptied and collapsed health system; Popular indignation grew until the people reached the limit due to the lack of medicines against the coronavirus, that forces thousands of families to go into debt or directly die due to the absence of these. further, The amount of vaccines that arrived was regrettable, We are facing an inept government that came out to beg for vaccines in its speeches, but he didn't really do anything to get them.

Does it have a fundamentally spontaneous character, self-summoned?

Nico: What we are beginning to see in Paraguay is the perfect description of a spontaneous self-convocation of the masses who are tired of waiting for false solutions from the State., That's why we go out into the streets shouting "Let everyone go." Because we are no longer silent., The people are tired of mistreatment and privilege for a few and are not satisfied with crumbs. Mario Abdo has made fun of the people on countless occasions, A few weeks ago a video went viral where the relative of a coronavirus patient is seen begging the president for medicine and he responded “I am not a doctor.”, "I don't know what supplies are needed here.", when before he had stated that Paraguay has the best health system in the world.

We still have to study and see the evolution of the process while we intervene, but in principle it is a revolution against the Colorado Party, those who have governed for 70 years, between dictatorship and “democracy”. The mobilizations are self-organized, there is no direction that hegemonizes discontent, For now it has not been channeled through any candidate, even when we are in an election year. Opposition leaders are conspicuous by their absence, the workers' confederations do not call for the General Strike, The powerful peasant federations do not take action and the Luguista and Liberal parliamentarians do not dare to fully encourage street fighting.. Hundreds of workers and peasants from all over the country arrive in Asunción as best they can, despite their addresses, to demonstrate their discontent and those who do not reach Asunción go out to cut avenues and routes in their cities and towns..

What slogans does the movement raise??

Juampi: Mainly “Out Marito”, “Let them all go” and “ANR Never Again”, but the claim behind these slogans is a health system with intensive care beds, medicines and vaccine against coronavirus; free and quality public education, the end of economic misery as thousands were left without work due to the pandemic and the economic crisis, in addition to a solution to femicides and sexist violence. Mainly thousands of young people from between 17 Y 25 years, They are the generation that took colleges and universities between 2015 Y 2017, This sector has a lot of sympathy from the labor movement, the peasantry and the middle sectors.

How is the government of Mario Abdo and Cartes reacting?

Nico: Hours before Friday's mobilization, for fear of the explosion, the Minister of Health resigned, The next day Abdo asked all his ministers to arrange their positions, This is how the resignation of the minister of education was added, the minister of women and the Civil Cabinet. The most questioned. Vice ministers and other senior officials also resigned.
The government is weak, A sector of the Colorados warned that they will call for mobilizations in support of the president, what remains to be seen. The president has the support of former president and drug trafficker Horacio Cartes, Who is putting ministers where there were resignations and that generates greater anger among the youth and workers?.

What policies planting the opposition is Burguesa and Lugo of the Great Front?

Juampi: The bourgeois opposition is betting on the impeachment of Mario Abdo, They look for an institutional exit, with early elections, which we believe is a trap since they are not real solutions, They only intend to stop the rebellion because they know that tomorrow they will also take over the FG and the Liberal Party, who pose as progressive but do nothing to remove the government, In fact, for the impeachment trial they need the parliamentary support of the most right-wing parties such as Patria Querida and the Horacio Cartes bench..

What is the Socialist Alternative program in Paraguay??

Nico: We propose a revolutionary and socialist solution for the exploited majorities; The first task we have is to overthrow Abdo's government, the path is the street, We do not trust the State institutions that supported and tolerated this fraud on the Paraguayan people for decades.. We believe that we must call a general strike until everyone leaves, form an emergency government of workers and popular sectors that applies a rescue plan in the face of the crisis and call a Constituent Assembly, libre, sovereign and democratic to reorganize Paraguay on new bases, where there are no privileges, corrupt or repressive.

What prospects do you predict for this process??

Juampi: We believe it is an open process, a revolution in progress, The people became stronger on the first day when they defeated the repression, From there every day there are mobilizations and street confrontations, the worker and peasant movement needs to take action, who must overwhelm their leaders and that is beginning to be seen in the peasantry. There is ample space for the construction of a socialist alternative that becomes stronger in these fights. It seems to us that the LIS forecasts were correct, We live in a pre-revolutionary world situation, Therefore, militant internationalism is key to filling with solidarity and strengthening each of the struggles in our countries to achieve the liberation of the working class around the world..

interviewed: M.R.