Paraguayan farmers withdraw from Asunción after three days of protests

(CNN Spanish) – After three consecutive days of demonstrations in the streets of the Asunción microcenter, this Thursday peasant organizations reached a consensus with the Executive Branch and the National Congress in order to lift the protests.

The document described by the farmers as a “preliminary agreement” addresses three demands: access to land, debt restructuring and support for peasant family farming.

The meeting took place this Thursday at the headquarters of the Congress and was led by representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, parliamentarians and peasant leaders.

“We established an agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture that undertakes, through the act, to prioritize the projects that have been presented within the framework of the agreement that is ratified today,” said Jorge Galeano of the National Intersectoral Coordinator (CNI).

Galeano announced that on August 18 a new meeting will be held with the participation of referents from the Senate, the National Development Bank, the Agricultural Enabling Credit and the Central Bank of Paraguay to discuss issues related to peasant debts and the lifting of the peasant protest.

The Vice Minister of Agriculture, Bettina Aguilera, explained that at next week’s meeting they will address technical aspects of the productive projects presented by the farmers to adjust them to the regulatory provisions.

“There is about US $ 14 million planned for the reactivation of peasant family agriculture, of which 43% have already been executed,” Aguilera recalled.

Farmers demand that an agreement signed at the end of 2020 with the Executive is fulfilled for the reactivation of peasant family agriculture affected by the economic crisis of the pandemic and by weather adversities that affected crops.

Before leaving for their lands, the leaders of the National Intersectoral Coordinator announced that they will also promote a national debate to try to get the Government to suspend all types of evictions in times of pandemic in order to protect the lives of the indigenous and peasant population.