The violent incidents in the demonstration against the Government of Mario Abdo Benitez Due to their management of the pandemic, which left a score of injured during the late Friday night in Asunción, they have given the opposition reasons to promote a political trial against the head of the conservative Colorado Party.
After knowing the consequences of the clashes between the protesters and the forces of order, spokespersons for different formations, from the opposition Liberal Party to Honor Colorado, the internal faction of the Colorado Party led by former president Horacio Cartes (2013-2018), expressed their intention to move forward or study, in the case of the most cautious, the possibility of firing the president.
Abdo Benítez He was already close to impeachment in August 2019, when he had been in charge of the country barely a year, for a secret act with Brazil to purchase energy from the Itaipu dam, shared by both countries, although he managed to save himself thanks to the support of Cartes , his internal rival.
More than a year later, the president accumulates criticism for his management of the pandemic, channeled this Friday in a citizen demonstration in front of Congress in protest at the lack of supplies in the public network.
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The message on Friday afternoon in the microcenter of Asunción, with hundreds of people gathered, was clear: Out with Marito !, as the president is popularly known.
Citizens were not content with the resignation of the already former Minister of Health Julio Mazzoleni on Friday morning, and went out to ask for the removal of the entire Cabinet, starting with the president and vice president, Hugo Velázquez.
FROM SONGS TO STONES
A policeman injured during the protests. (EFE / Nathalia Aguilar).
The public convocation began peacefully around 6:00 p.m. local time, with a large number of young protesters, all with their national flags and their protest banners in front of the Congress.
As night fell, the peaceful atmosphere that had reigned until then was rarefied by the presence of some citizens who lit bonfires and flares, ever closer to one of the main police barriers, behind which the police were also located. riot control, special forces and fire trucks.
This group of protesters began throwing stones and objects at the security forces, who after several minutes responded to the attacks with gas and rubber pellets.
The crowd dispersed in different directions and barricades and bonfires were formed in different parts of downtown Asunción, several blocks away from the place of the demonstration.
The most conflictive was the one that was organized in front of the Ministry of Finance, very close to the National Police Headquarters.
Despite the significant number of police officers in the area, the uniformed men, many of them without helmets or bulletproof vests, were overwhelmed by the protesters and ended up facing them with stones.
The superiority of the citizens forced the police to take out white handkerchiefs to ask the protesters for a truce and agree to their request to return in front of Congress to start a vigil until he resigned Abdo Benítez.
Police officers try to calm the protesters during the protests in Asunción. (EFE / Nathalia Aguilar).
PRESIDENTIAL RING MEETING
While the center of Asunción burned, Abdo Benítez met with those closest to him at the presidential residence of Mburuvicha Roga, and a statement from the Government is expected on Saturday morning.
At the moment, the only source from the Executive that has ruled in this regard has been the Minister of the Interior, Arnaldo Giuzzio, who assured that the police were without firearms and added that the presence of brave bars that started the violence is not ruled out.
The police try to break up a demonstration against the government of Mario Abdo Benítez. (EFE / Nathalia Aguilar).
Giuzzio also said that he had been in permanent communication with Abdo Benítez, who was concerned about the situation, according to his words.
The citizen protest this Friday follows that of the teachers and nurses unions that this week came out to demonstrate against the Government, the first for the return to classes in full escalation of infections and the second for the lack of medicines in the hospitals.