MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Agrarian Reform protesters to march again on Asunción

It will be the farmers' 31st demonstration in 31 years

Paraguay's National Peasant Federation (FNC) is holding its annual march to Asunción Thursday to demand access to land, an end to evictions, and policies to support rural development. Peasants from 12 of Paraguay’s 17 departments, including San Pedro, Paraguarí, Guairá, and Caaguazú, gathered at the former Metropolitan Seminary on Wednesday to prepare for the demonstration.

The FNC, led by Secretary-General Marcial Gómez, is protesting against land issues and the influence of the pro-government Honor Colorado faction, led by former president Horacio Cartes, over national institutions. They are calling for agrarian reform and denouncing evictions of peasant and indigenous communities. “In order for there to be national development, food production, primary production and the development of industry in our country must be promoted,” Gómez said.

Under the motto “for land and production, against all injustices,” two days of other protests in Asunción, including demonstrations by workers, retirees, and opposition parties, were staged. Farmers faced obstacles en route, including a police checkpoint in Limpio, where a bus was detained, though the group was later released after blocking a road in protest.

The march will proceed through central Asunción, ending with a manifesto reading at Plaza de la Democracia. The event highlights ongoing tensions with President Santiago Peña’s administration, with critics like Ermo Rodríguez of the Paraguay Pyahura Party noting a lack of dialogue between the government and popular sectors.

It will be the 31st such demonstration in 31 years to demand the promotion of an Agrarian Reform Law as provided for in the country's Constitution, to address land distribution and support small-scale food production, which sustains Paraguay's food sovereignty, it was explained.