The Municipality and the SNC unable to stop a property crime
“The cultural heritage of Paraguay is made up of movable and immovable property, material and immaterial, environmental and built, secular or ecclesiastical, public or private, insofar as they are relevant to culture…”
This definition has been established in Law 5,621 of 2016. Its enforcement authority is the National Secretariat of Culture, which is invested with authority and sufficient institutional support since the law, as stated in the preamble to its sanction, “saved the omission presented by the previous one, insofar as it lacked an effective system of sanctions related to non-compliance with its precepts”. That framework exists today. For example, to touch a building considered cultural heritage, it is necessary to have prior authorization from the SNC, as established in article 21 of the current law. However, the attacks against the building heritage add up and continue.
For example, the mansion known as Molino San José is falling under the demolition pickaxe while institutions such as the Municipality of Asunción, the SNC and the Court of Accounts pass the ball at a communications intersection that does not clarify anything. In short, is the building on Artigas and General Santos streets officially part of Paraguay’s cultural heritage or not? If so, those who ordered its demolition could face a fine of up to 280 million guaraníes (2,000 minimum wages) and criminal proceedings with an expectation of three to 10 years in prison. Does the company that was commissioned to erase this building of undoubted aesthetic and possibly heritage value know that?
The old structure is located on one of the main historical axes of the city, the one that runs along the Carlos Antonio López railway, which until the middle of the 20th century was the transport system par excellence and, consequently, concentrated intense activity commercial. A series of similar constructions are lined up on the surrounding arteries until they reach the center of Asunción.
Both the Municipality and the SNC hide behind legal attitudes and sterile bureaucracy, to justify another attack against the capital’s building heritage. They would do well to stop the ball and prevent another little historical gem from becoming just another smelly gas station.
