Pandemic, protests and politics in Paraguay
Armed with pots and pans, thousands of protesters marched through Paraguay’s capital Asunción on March 5, 2021, demonstrating against President Mario Abdo Benítez’s government and its response to the coronavirus pandemic. The “cacerolazo” demonstrations began peacefully, but quickly grew violent after police responded with rubber bullets and tear gas. At least one person was killed and 20 others were injured in the fray.
The unrest led Benítez to fire his entire cabinet and pledge to improve the country’s pandemic response. By doing so, he narrowly avoided impeachment for the second time in his three-year presidency.
Benítez has been dogged by his reputation for ineptitude throughout his tenure. In August 2018, when his government’s disapproval rating reached 69.3 percent, enterprising business owners began producing commemorative memorabilia emblazoned with the phrase “Desastre Ko Marito,” a hybrid Guarani-Spanish phrase which roughly translates to “Marito is a disaster.” He also faced impeachment in August 2019 over an unfavorable deal he struck with Brazil over the Itaipu Dam which would have cost Paraguay $200 million.
Over the last year, coronavirus has compounded Paraguay's existing political issues. The country was unprepared when a second wave, likely fuelled by the more infectious Brazilian variant, hit in late February. While hospitals have run short of beds and relatives have been told to purchase medication for loved ones out of their own pockets, allegations of corrupt medical supply deals have run rife.
“What coronavirus has evidenced once more is the institutionalized corruption in the country,” Factal Editor Irene Villora said.
Despite the outcry against such corruption, the situation has barely improved — the country still has not procured enough vaccines to inoculate its population, and the health system remains in crisis. Yet the political pressure from demonstrators has abated.
“This is something that's quite a homogeneous trend in the continent,” Villora said. “[Countries] will get sudden sparks of violence in the streets like civil unrest related to corruption, but then it sort of simmers down, and fades, because it's an ongoing problem, and people cannot afford to be in the streets every day, right, they have to go back to their work, their life and try to survive.”
Additionally, Villora said, Latin American countries have a history of responding to peaceful protests with police violence.
“The powers in Latin America know they don't have anything to lose because the people don't have any sort of power, and they don't hesitate to respond with violence,” she said
The exception to the regional rule is Chile, where a series of prolonged and admittedly violent anti-regime protests in 2019 and 2020 did bring about constitutional change. The Chilean government’s desire to avoid a repeat of that unrest is seen by some as motivation for the country’s successful vaccination program.
But Chilean protesters also had one great advantage that their Paraguayan counterparts do not: the country’s relationship with Europe. Chile is the only country in Latin America which has a treaty with the EU and is viewed by the bloc as a regional model of democracy. When Chilean police were accused of violently repressing protesters, EU organizations were able to exert their influence to call for a rapid and peaceful resolution. By contrast, Paraguay’s largest import trading partner is China, which is instead leveraging the latest unrest for its own interests.
With a lack of international pressure leaving little prospect of lasting change, Paraguayans have returned to their daily lives with a sense of resignation over the corruption which continues to plague the nation. But recent history suggests it won’t be long before they are out on the streets once more.
“When people rise up in Latin American countries, they are not doing it necessarily because they think a different party or different political ideology will be better,” Villora said. “It’s like when you're filling a glass — at some point, it overflows.”
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