Paraguay’s national riot police blocked thousands of campesinos from marching to the Lopez Palace in the capital Asuncion, in one of the tensest moments in the campesinos' three-week long campaign to demand the government forgive private and public debt.
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Paraguayan Campesinos Demand Senate Address Agriculture Crisis
The campesino marched through the center of the capital towards the palace which was surrounded by containment fences, barbed wire and mounted police agents with water cannons.
The members of the Intersectoral National Committee, CNI, began campaigning on July 10 to force the government of President Horacio Cartes to address the country’s agricultural crisis.
They want the government to declare a state of emergency, forgive the debts of small-scale farmers, subsidize production, legalize and regularize the distribution of land and provide credits to stimulate the agricultural industry.
CNI members have said they will remain on strike until the government meets their demands.
Gob de @Horacio_Cartes prepara represión mientras sus senadores dejan sin quorum Comisión de Hacienda que debía tratar pedido campesino. #Py pic.twitter.com/S7WI4KLEka
— Osvaldo Zayas (@OsvaldoteleSUR) July 26, 2017
"The government of Horacio Cortest prepares to repress while his senators leave without quorum the Treasury Committee that should address the campesinos' demands."
Organizaciones campesinas intensificarán movilizaciones hasta que @SenadoresPy trate Ley de Emergencia de la Agricultura Familiar. #Paraguay pic.twitter.com/W2Gu9waCFX
— Osvaldo Zayas (@OsvaldoteleSUR) July 26, 2017
"Campesino organizations intensify their protest so that the Senate address the Emergency Law of Family Agriculture."