Paraguay Campesinos March on Capital, Demand President Resign

Hundreds of Paraguayan campesinos from across the country launched a march toward the capital city Asuncion on Thursday to demand the resignation of President Horacio Cartes and protest policies that they say contribute to poor living conditions in rural areas.

The march comes as the latest in a series of campesino mobilizations this year, including an 8,000-strong march on the capital in February to demand that President Cartes either introduce major reforms or resign.

Marcha campesina sobre la Avda. Eusebio Ayala. Se dirigen al centro de Asunción. - Vía @lacosta1000. pic.twitter.com/VI1Kx7abSa

— Radio 1000 AM (@1000_am) October 29, 2015

According to a statement from the National Campesino Federation, known as the FNC, the movement protests “all of the policies driven by the government of Horacio Cartes, which deepen more and more the state violence and repression against poor campesinos instead of delivering on the needs of the people and boosting community development.”

In the face of of a government that has not only sidelined the needs of poor and rural populations, but has also been repeatedly condemned for violating human rights, campesinos demand a new kind of politics in the country.

Central among their demands are calls for improvements in health, education, labor, living conditions, and land access, as well as an end to the influence of narcotrafficking in politics.

The protest, convened by the campesino organization Paraguay Pyahura and supported by the FNC, also aims to draw attention to the devastating impacts of industrial monocultures, particularly soy, on rural populations and small-scale farming. According to the FNC, soy and other monocultures are displacing campesinos from their land, forcing many to move to cities in search of work.

Manifestación Paraguay Pyahura llega a Eusebio Ayala y De la Victoria. Transito cerrado. pic.twitter.com/qiTwF4RNmp

— Gustavo Franco (@gustavofrancopy) October 29, 2015

“Paraguay Pyahura demonstration arrives at Eusebio Ayala and De La Victorio (intersection). Transit closed.”

“This is a long struggle of the Paraguayan people...against anti-popular, pro-transnational, pro-imperial, pro-neoliberal policies that want to be established on the continent and are part of this operation that is taking place in Paraguay,” said Ignacio Dennis, a member of the transnational social movement La Via Campesina, in reference to Paraguayan policies that contribute to the land dispossession.

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Dennis added that resistance to neoliberal policies is what produced this ongoing mobilization of Paraguayan campesinos.

Paraguay has one of the highest rates of land concentration in the region, with an estimated 80 percent of land is in the hands of just two percent of the population.

Sigue la marcha del Partido Paraguay Pyahura exigiendo renuncia del Pdte. Cartes, vía @CharlyArrow_ #R800AM pic.twitter.com/WetLM7uDIW

— Radio La Unión AM800 (@LaUnionAM800) October 29, 2015

“The Paraguay Pyahura Party march continues demanding the resignation of President Cartes.”

Historically, unequal land distribution was compounded by a shift beginning in the 1970s to export agriculture and mechanized soy production. These agricultural changes have pushed many small and medium-sized farmers producing food for local consumption off their land, fueling land conflicts and undermining local food security.

The march will conclude with a mobilization in front of the National Congress in Asuncion to demand President Cartes’ resignation.

Cartes has seen high disapproval ratings since coming to office in 2013 and has also come under fire within his own party for undermining institutional stability.