“Paraguay Se Levanta”: Mass Protests in Paraguay Amid a Public Health and Political Crisis (2021)
In 2021, health workers began protesting the dismal state of Paraguay's public health system and hospitals, which were at capacity and facing shortages of critical supplies and medications to treat covid patients. Facing public pressure, the health minister resigned on March 5th, the same day that thousands of Paraguayans took to the streets to protest the government's lack of management and transparency through the pandemic while the country's public health system bordered collapse, demanding the ouster of the president, Mario Abdo Benítez. Mass protests, led by young Paraguayans tired of the country's historic corruption, spread throughout the country and were met with repression. Amid a deepening public health and political crisis, Paraguay was one of the last countries to receive covid vaccines in South America.
Coverage for The New York Times and Bloomberg News.
