Author: Ravi Musalin

Co-Authors: Anna Woodworth, Mishelle Perez Gonzalez, Leah Jacob

Students in Paraguay have mobilized one of the largest’s protest movements in Paraguay’s history. They are demanding a significant reform to Paraguay’s largest public university, the National University of Asunción, otherwise known as UNA.  Protesters across the university’s 12 schools demanded four basic reforms to the university.  First, they are looking to eliminate the absolute majority held by professors in the university governing assembly, which is composed of elected professors, students, and alumni from each of the 12 schools. Second, they want term limits for university leadership positions.  Their third demand is to institute a ban on the “personal appointees,” otherwise known as “cargos de confianza,” of university leaders running for and occupying elected office in university governing bodies. Lastly, they are looking for the creation of an independent electoral commission to regulate university elections.  These protests began on August 24th of 2016. Although the students participating in the protest became involved for vastly different reasons, they share the common frustration with the self-interested elite of the university. Currently, the university has not compromised with the protestors. They recently refused to consider the protestors reforms for a third time.

Protests in 2016 intensified when a group of teachers and high ranking government officials began to make reforms to the university without consulting with the students of the university.  Students argue that teachers shouldn’t be allowed to make decisions concerning the university without input from the students. One of the main grievances students had were the lowering amount of investment in education.  Paraguay spent around 3.9% of its GDP on education, with that amount falling every year.  In comparison, other South American countries in the region spend, on average, 5.2% of their GDP on education. In terms of billions of dollars, this 1.3% difference is especially significant. As part of a solution to their issues with the education system, protesters demand an increase of about 50 million dollars on education in 2017. This increase would be less than 1% of Paraguay’s GDP. The Paraguayan government’s lack of investment, along with the fact that Paraguay is considered the country with the worst education in the world by The World Economic Forum, further fuels the frustrations of students. The UNA students have remained adamant in their protests, demanding that their reform requests be met by the government.

Summary factoid questions:

1. Why did protests intensify in 2016?  Teachers and high ranking government officials began to reform the university without consulting with the students of the university
2. What was one demand made by the protestors in 2016? An increased investment in education of about 50 million dollars in 2017

Sources

1. “Paraguay’s Student Spring.” NACLA. N.p., 11 Oct. 2016. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.
2. “Paraguay’s University Students Are Protesting against Corruption.” Equal Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.

Author: Mishelle Gonzalez Perez

Co-Authors: Leah Jacob, Anna Woodworth, Ravi Musalin

(Santi Carneri)

Background:

Only a 2.5% of the population owes an 85% of the agricultural land in Paraguay, making it one of the countries with the largest land estate in Latin America. These large estates have forced the inhabitants of these lands to leave, so they can exploit it for soy and grains. According to Santi Carneri, the prices of these acres raised from 200 dollars to more than 1,200 dollars in 2004. In 2012, there was a violent attack on farmers in Curuguaty by special operation police forces called Grupo Especial de Operaciones (GEO), as they tried to displace 60 campesinos that occupied 5,000 acres of highly contested land. This attacked led to the death of 11 campesinos and 7 police officers. Shortly after this event the congress impeached the center-left President Fernando Lugo (Carneri).

(Santi Carneri)

#Somosobservadores Campaign:

After 5 years, no officer has faced any charges, nor have they been investigated for the deaths of the 11 campesinos that were executed that day. There has been another 115 cases of extrajudicial killings and disappearances of social movement activists and peasants leaders resisting the militarization of their communities (Carmona).Yet 13 campesinos are now facing criminal charges for the deaths of the 7 officers killed the day of the attack.
Last year, on the steps of the Asuncion’s courthouse, a strike raised with the chants “Dictatorship, Never Again!” after the court ruled three more campesinos guilty of the death of the six police officers in Curuguaty (Hill). Each farmer got a sentence of up to 35 years. Local social movements were criminalized by the government to protect their own economic and political interests. These occurrences led to the up-rise of the #somosobservadores campaign, an independent citizen monitoring initiative aiming to fight for the rights of the inhabitants of these lands and the victims of the Curuguaty massacre (Carmona).

(Santi Carneri)

These convictions and the lack of justice for the victims of the Curuguaty massacre, have raised concerns about the strength of the Paraguay’s judicial system, as everyday more campesinos are forced off their lands. Recently, a group of 150 armed officers assembled to displace 50 campesinos in Guahory which is owned by Brazilian estates. The community resisted against them and many of the victims were hurt, injured, and even persecuted. After these lands are taken, only 6.3% of the land’s cultivation goes towards rural farming families; an amount that is insufficient to feed the country (Carneri).

1. Why did the campaign #somosobservadores rise in Paraguay? What was it?
2. What percentage of the population in Paraguay owns 85% of the agricultural land?

Carmona, Armando. “USAID and the Criminalization of Social Movements in Paraguay.”Truthout. N.p., 12 Sept. 2015. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.

Carneri, Santi. “Fotos: Tierra Muy Fértil, Pero Muy Mal Repartida.” EL PAÍS. Síguenos En Síguenos En Twitter Síguenos En Facebook Síguenos En Twitter Síguenos En Instagram, 02 Mar. 2017. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.

Carneri, Santi. “La Codicia Por La Tierra En Paraguay.” EL PAÍS. Síguenos En Síguenos En Twitter Síguenos En Facebook Síguenos En Twitter Síguenos En Instagram, 02 Mar. 2017. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.

Hill, Toby Stirling. “Paraguayans Lose Faith in Justice System That Values Land over Law.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 04 Aug. 2016. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.

Author: Leah Jacob

Co-Authors: Mishelle Perez Gonzalez, Anna Woodworth, Ravi Musalin

According to the Third National Census of Indigenous Peoples in 2012 there were 115,944 indigenous people in Paraguay. This census said there were 19 indigenous peoples that belong to 5 linguistic groups: Guaraní(Aché, Avá Guaraní, Mbya Guaraní, Paï Tavytera, Guaraní Ñandeva, Guaraní Occidental), Maskoy (Toba Maskoy, Enlhet Norte, Enxet Sur, Sanapaná, Angaité, Guaná), Mataco Mataguayo (Nivaclé, Maká, Manjui), Zambuco (Ayoreo, Yvytoso, Tomáraho) and Guaicurú (Qom). The Mennonites are a group of German-speaking minorities that are from the Chaco region.  The Chaco region has the biggest diversity of indigenous peoples, while the Orientation region has the highest amount of indigenous peoples (52.3%). The indigenous peoples live in 531 communities and 241 villages (International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs).

Problems The Indigenous Peoples Face

During a visit to the Ujeslavos community by the Special Rapporteur, she found that the practices dealing with employment and health-care services deny indigenous employees of adequate social protection. The Special Rapporteur also found that the temporary employment arrangements limit the workers’ social security benefits and their health care coverage under the Ayuda Mutua Hospitalaria insurance program. The indigenous people have declined in poverty rates, but it is still very high. The rate of poverty for the indigenous peoples is 75% and extreme poverty rate is 60%. Extreme poverty for children under 5 years old is 63% and the chronic malnutrition rate is 41.7%. The indigenous people believe that the scarcity of food security and access to clean drinking water is a big recurring problem. This poverty is mainly due to the lack of control that indigenous peoples have over their lands, territories and natural resources (Human Rights Council, 2016) . The indigenous peoples have small parts of their land, that do not match the amount of their traditional territories. This leaves the land to private parties such as soy growers, cattle ranchers, large agro-industrialists who are mainly responsible for deforestation. From 2006-2010 a tenth of the Chaco region was converted into farms and 1.2 million hectares of forest were destroyed (Forest Peoples Programme, 2015).

The Guaraní People

Summary Factoids

What is one minority group in Paraguay? The Mennonites.

What is the reason the indigenous peoples think is a recurring problem? Lack of food security and access to drinking water.

What effects have the private parties owning the indigenous peoples land had? Poverty for indigenous peoples and deforestation.

Sources

“Indigenous peoples in Paraguay.” International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

“Report: The situation of indigenous peoples in Paraguay.” Victoria Tauli-Corpuz United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Human Rights Council., 13 Aug. 2016. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

“The Situation of Indigenous Peoples in Paraguay: Their lands and the Laws that Would Protect Them.” Forest Peoples Programme. ENEWSLETTER., 14 Dec. 2015. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.