45% of Paraguayans would tolerate a military coup if corruption worsens
The chain of attacks in the north of the Eastern region has strongly contributed to the straining of the political and social atmosphere. The idea of a country defenseless against organized crime is something more than a sensation at the same time that the corpses are piling up in the morgue and the impotence of citizens begins to be redirected towards authorities that lack a convincing response to the demand for greater action against the violence.
Containing cartelized crime is an issue that must be removed from the field of political belligerence. On what other matter of state could we all agree more than in the fight against the mafias that have perched on all social, economic and political levels? Be careful not to underestimate this because if the leadership in function of power continues to be locked in its petty pre-electoral world, the only thing it will achieve is to aggravate the rejection that it already suffers from among the citizens, with an increasingly low tolerance threshold towards old-school politicians. .
Days ago we showed how attachment to democratic institutions has been declining in Paraguay since the dawn of democratic life. In 2020, only 51% of Paraguayans supported democracy, while in the early 1990s it was 61%. After 30 years, instead of strengthening, the trend has been decreasing, which should be interpreted as the weakening of the democratic system to provide satisfactory responses to the most urgent demands. Instead, the indicator of boredom of citizens towards politicians has been increasing. The CIRD-USAID-Vanderbilt University report found that in the 2016-2017 period, 68% of those consulted considered politicians to be corrupt, a figure that rose to 75% in version 20-21 of the same report.
Another thing that the political arena should take into account is that only three out of ten Paraguayans have confidence in the elections as a democratic tool. And a disturbing fact: 45% of those consulted would tolerate a military coup if corruption reached intolerable limits. Be careful with this, because political corruption is being added to the insecurity fueled by organized crime in the face of the impotence of a government incapable of dealing effectively with both phenomena.
Watch out. We are walking on an increasingly narrow ledge.
