By Alternativa Socialista – ISL Paraguay
The Paraguayan people, fed up with the abuses of the corrupt political caste and the privilege with which they operate among businessmen and landowners, came out to fight in the streets and demand the resignation of the government and its cabinet.
The desperate situation of dozens of health workers and their relatives who died due to lack of medicines and vaccines to fight the coronavirus, the difficulty in accessing education, the loss of thousands of jobs, the repression of the poor farmers fighting for land and the squandering of the 2 billion dollars of foreign debt are the causes that forced the people to protest against the government, achieving first of all the removal of the Minister of Health Mazzoleni.
The people are no longer satisfied with crumbs. Workers want the resignation of Mario Abdo Benitez who, in spite of the high social rejection he has, sent the police to repress the popular rebellion. We denounce before the world that, with tear gas, hydrant cars, rubber bullets and mounted police, they tried to make the people retreat. They murdered a young fighter, wounded dozens and left a trail of blood running through the streets of Asunción. The people did not retreat, on the contrary, the spontaneous self-convocation defeated the repression and the ones who retreated were the repressive forces. We urge them to break ranks and put down their weapons, because the enemy of the people is the government of the landowners and businessmen, not the working class and those who struggle.
We urge the workers’ centers, the political forces of the left, the student organizations of high school and university students, the feminist groups, the self-convened, the farmers’ and indigenous federations and all the people to call for a big indefinite general strike with street mobilizations until the corrupt government of Mario Abdo Benitez is defeated. The greatest democratic and militant unity is necessary so that the working people triumph and the political castes do not get their way.
We militants of Alternativa Socialista and the International Socialist League go for an emergency government of the workers and the people, that implements a program, an economic plan of social salvation, that calls for a free, sovereign and democratic constituent assembly to reorganize Paraguay on new bases, without businessmen, landowners, corrupt officials and repressors, that is to say, a socialist country with democracy for the working class and the people.
Urgent Statement on the actions of the government of Mario Abdo and his repressive police
The popular mobilization of March 5 is the perfect demonstration that the capitalist system in the hands of Mario Abdo and his cabinet is no more. The very poor management of the COVID-19 pandemic by all the powers of the State and the bourgeois institutions that for a long time now have no capacity to solve the problems of the innumerable crises that we are facing; leaving the education system and all the other institutions; plunging more and more families into poverty and precariousness.
Yesterday’s mobilization reflected the fear and impotence that the State of Mario Abdo has against the spontaneous power of the masses and their discontent, from Alternativa Socialista we condemn the violent and complicit action of the National Police that protects the interests of the business minority, who without hesitation and with the slightest touch went out to repress the demonstrators at night, mounted, with rubber bullets, tear gas and riot trucks. It should also be noted that the spontaneous organization of the demonstrators was able to make the police retreat on several occasions and they even had to throw “rubble” as they ran away from the demonstrators; the police could not resist and had to surrender to the strength, conviction and cunning of the Paraguayan people.
That is why we invite to continue mobilizing and coordinating actions with all the forces permanently until the resignation of Mario Abdo and his entire cabinet.
Let’s organize a general strike with all sectors and prepare a plan of struggle to overthrow Mario Abdo and his entire cabinet!
For an emergency government of the workers and the people to implement an economic program of social salvation and to call for a free, sovereign, democratic Constituent Assembly to reorganize Paraguay on new bases, without the big businessmen, landowners, corrupt officials and repressors.
In order to carry out all these tasks, let’s build together a powerful anti-capitalist, eco-socialist, feminist and international political alternative of those from below.
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Published on 03/06/2020