Paraguay's Student Rebellion Forces Education Minister to Quit

Paraguay's education minister resigned Thursday, bowing to pressure from students who have been occupying over 100 high schools in the past two days.

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The mobilized high school students reached their goal two days after they followed through on their threat of occupying education facilities if Minister Marta Lafuente refused to resign within 48 hours.

Student leader Camila Benitez said the minister repeatedly failed to solve student issues.

The number of high schools occupied by students eclipsed 100, as other student organizations eventually joined the call launched by the National Student Organization, or ONE.

Students occupying their high school | Photo: UNEPY

The students asked the minister to quit following her involvement in a series of corruption scandals in the past few months.

Student leaders said the "the last straw" came when an entire wall collapsed at Nuestra Señora de Asuncion High School Wednesday. Fortunately, no victims were reported.

Earlier in April, the country's Congress approved opening a formal investigation into the minister for allegedly buying overpriced water bottles for the ministry's cafeteria.

Students occupying their high school | Photo: UNEPY

The minister justified her actions saying she had to hire catering services for foreign visitors coming from the Program for International Student Assessment. The controversy grew to such an extent that President Horacio Cartes eventually ordered Lafuente to stop hiring the catering service.

Lafuente at first refused to resign, with the support of the president. Cartes has also been implicated in various money laundering scandals and was investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency before taking office.