Kattya González, current national deputy for the PEN, had aspired to the presidency since the end of 2020, however, she decided to change her objective in recent months, running for the Senate. She affirms that the key in the next elections will be in the participation of the 2.5 million young people between 18 and 39 years old.
He regrets that the public perception is that he does not feel identified with his parliamentarians. So one of his work axes will be to change that perception
It was your turn to dismount, how did you feel that?
I had to change my objective, I don’t want to say dismount. The leadership of the present and future of Paraguay is female, it is plural, it is what Paraguay needs to transform its politics. We had to make a very difficult decision, a decision that was thought through by the team and we decided that our place of resistance will continue to be Congress. We believe that we can contribute and if there is alternation, the Congress should serve as a support that leads the transformations in the different areas; health, education and work. This experience of 4 years in Parliament tells us that more than ever this body must be renewed. He needs to get back on his feet for citizenship. Legislate, control and represent the citizenry.
Do you think you had to be part of the worst Congress?
I think it is one of the worst. The numbers are alarming, the perception of citizens is truly devastating. We made a sample with 438 people, the coincidence is in a very strong word; “I don’t feel represented.” Actually today the effort must be put into recovering that. It will not fall from the sky, nor is it a disgrace. The National Meeting Alliance made an effort to convene men and women who can contribute from their knowledge a higher quality of representation.
Who is part of your team for Parliament?
I am so proud of the list of the National Encounter that it does not fit in my chest that a teacher like José Antonio Galeano with many years of experience is part of the team. A total of 28,000 students passed through his hands, from high school students to university students. We have Soledad Villagra, an expert in human rights, the economist Amilcar Ferreira. We have Pedro Mayor Martínez who came out of the big door of the Judiciary so contaminated. The pillars are Fernando Camacho and Patrick Kemper from Hagamos.
How was convincing them?
It was very difficult. Pedro Mayor Martínez, José Antonio Galeano and Soledad Villagra were my teachers. So when we started conversations with some it was easier than with others. They said yes to the call. It is difficult to leave the comfort zone to enter politics. Amilcar Ferreira, for example, is a person who always comes to the call. There is no one in Congress who can explain in simple terms all the economic laws that came out during the pandemic. And who was always on call? Amilcar Ferrera. I also listened to him a lot in the media, we invited him and he said yes. We tried in several meetings but it was not easy. We don’t have the bad money that the NRA has. We are going to depend on citizens believing in this project as an alternative.
The last resistance is the Senate?
And I think so, within all the varied conformation that has taken place in recent times. I believe that the Senate of the nation put cold cloths in very important moments. I don’t know if it is the last bastion of resistance because there is also a clique of nefarious characters that from time to time wash their faces with certain issues. We have some very important individuals in the Senate.
People are tired of politics, so what do you tell them?
They are told that politics is present 365 days a year and that it decides the most everyday things like when you are going to get on a bondi and there is no quality service. He gets in every day, when there are no medicines on the streets, when insurance as important as the IPS does not provide the necessary coverage. When you have to bring your relative, 300 kilometers because it turns out that there are no highly complex hospitals in the interior and everything is centralized in Asunción. Let’s not get tired, the worst thing we can do is forget that politics occupies a very important place.
Do you think that youth will have a very important role in the next elections?
I wouldn’t get involved in this if I didn’t have hope, that indomitable faith that deep down in my heart that we can’t have 2.5 million young people between the ages of 18 and 39 who decide that Sunday that they don’t care about their country and stay in their houses. I resist that. I think today we have 1.6 million independent people with no party affiliation. Stroessner forced you because of what that generation is leaving behind.
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DATA SHEET:
Full name: Kattya Mabel Gonzalez Villanueva.
Place of birth: Villa Elisa, Central.
Date of Birth: June 24, 1977 (45).
Positions in the public function: councilor of Villa Elisa (2006 – 2010) and national deputy (2018 – 2023).
Occupation: Lawyer, teacher, writer and politician.
