AMERICA/PARAGUAY - “Life is impossible in the present situation of total indifference on the part of the authorities”Bishop Escobar exclaims

Monday, 29 February 2016 politics bishops area crisis poverty

Upper Paraguay

PARAGUAY

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Upper Paraguay (Agenzia Fides) – Bishop Gabriel Escobar, in charge of the Apostolic Vicariate of Chaco, has urged the people living in Upper Paraguay to be more insistent in calling the authorities to fulfil their duties regarding the situation of isolation of many local communities due to lack of roads and the total absence of the State. According to a report sent to Fides, Bishop Escobar said this yesterday during Sunday Mass in the Cathedral in Fuerte Olimpo, capital city of Upper Paraguay (Paraguay).
"It is impossible to live in the region of Chaco in such a situation of total indifference on the part of national and departmental authorities " said Bishop Escobar, stressing the necessity to overcome cultural poverty and lodge concrete complaints with the authorities " complaints based on real facts, not only by way of social networks as we are accustomed ". Lack of education represents an advantage for the authorities, since it means citizens are unable to present requests and complaints, he underlined. "The people of Paraguay are used to suffering but the present situation is intolerable, the people in this part of the country deserve better living conditions " Bishop Gabriel Escobar concluded.
Upper Paraguay has a population of about 18,000. The most serious difficulty is the lack of roads : many communities can be reached only by sailing on the River Paraguay: small boats offering one service a week . The government is doing nothing to improve the situation. The few attempts on the part of the authorities to take action with a project, were stifled by corruption. Moreover the area is subject to bad weather with serious consequences, heavy rains mean the few existing tracks are washed away or made impassable. (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 29/02/2016).