On Friday, March 31, 2017, in the face of demonstrations against the constitutional amendment, Hugo Velázquez, current Vice President of the Republic and then President of the Chamber of Deputies, decided to call off the extraordinary session scheduled for the following Saturday.
The planned session was intended to deal with the draft constitutional amendment. With the postponement until the following Tuesday, Velázquez sought to bring “calm and tranquility” to the public according to his own statements.
Then he relives the events of that tragic political episode for our country, which ended the life of a young liberal leader.
What do you remember from March 31, 2017?
The political crisis in Paraguay in March 2017 was generated by then President Horacio Cartes, when he tried to modify the National Constitution and thus try to force his re-election.
Several legislators opposed this outrage against democracy represented by this attempt that was ultimately unsuccessful.
The intention to change the Magna Carta for the benefit of a sector, motivated a series of protests that began in March 2017, which led to a popular revolt where protesters set fire to the Congress building, I even remember that the deputy Édgar Acosta was shot persuasion that even disfigured his face and that on March 31 led to the tragic death of Rodrigo Quintana inside the PLRA’s own property at the hands of the National Police, a fact that to date has not been fully clarified.
I also remember that even the international community spoke out against those who did not respect the institutions of the Republic.
Cartes and his political allies at the time sought a constitutional amendment to impose presidential re-election.
Finally, after all these events, Cartes was able to renounce his intention to violate the Constitution.
The Chamber of Deputies, which I presided over, rejected the draft constitutional amendment for presidential re-election.
Without a doubt, what happened at the end of March 2017 and the tension that lasted for a few days was one of the darkest passages in the political life of democratic Paraguay, and above all it exposed those who are capable of to cross the limits to expand their business interests and are far from seeking the good of all Paraguayans.
Not even the Stronista dictatorship was encouraged to do so, and I am referring to the fact that the headquarters of an opposition party was run over with bullets by the police, extinguishing the young life of a leader who was fighting for democracy and its ideals.
As I said, to this day, his family and all citizens cry out for justice for that spilled blood.
In addition to the citizen mobilization and the firm position of the Presidency of the Chamber of Deputies in my charge, in defense of the National Constitution, a position that later cost me the ownership of the Lower House, the mediation of Pope Francis was also important, who asked to avoid “all violence” and advocated seeking “political solutions” and also the Embassy of the United States, which, combining international concern, called for calm and asked for respect for democratic and institutional processes.
It was an honor for me, as president of the Chamber of Deputies, to be the one who announced the rejection of the amendment, which brought peace and tranquility to the entire population after several days of tension.
How do you see democracy and institutionality in Paraguay today after that event?
I see a strengthened democracy, with a citizenry attentive to any outrage that could result in a setback.
What happened in March 2017 was a sign that those business and political sectors that seek a different path from the democratic instances will have a wall in the citizens themselves that will make them go back.
That is why it is so important to fight for the institutions, and that they are not usurped by groups of business “bosses” who seek only to protect their economic interests and their profits over the well-being of the people.
There is a fight that began in March 2017 for the protection of State institutions that endure today.
Precisely, the Government of Mario Abdo Benítez and Hugo Velázquez defeated the group led by Horacio Cartes within the ANR already in that year, that battle continues, continues and we will win it again this December.
The plan to take over strategic sectors of the State to obtain impunity and sensitive information for their own benefit must end once and for all, because that only benefits the bosses and not the people.
How do you see the progress of Justice in relation to the investigation of the case, taking into account that it is not yet known who gave the order to hit the headquarters of the PLRA?
Very little progress was made in the case of the events that occurred in 2017. The attack on the PLRA and the assassination of the young liberal leader Rodrigo Quintana, without a doubt a martyr of the democratic defense, is a pending debt that we will seek to settle.
The prosecution never reached those directly responsible because they never thoroughly investigated the issue. That is why our position continues to be the need to clean up institutions such as the Public Ministry, where the influence of a political sector is more than evident, that only generates impunity and in the long run a breakdown of the rule of law.
Ending the privilege and impunity that extra-powered organs grant to the mafias must be the guideline to follow, in this fight that is just beginning.
