Paraguay: Homeless disrobe in protest against public prosecutors
Almost 100 settlers from Finca 66, officially designated as homeless, were involved this Monday in a protest against the district attorneys who ordered their eviction and allegedly irregular arrest. They undressed and shouted all kinds of insults, as well as attempting to assault a journalist. The events took place opposite the District Attorney’s Office, Ciudad del Este.
The protestors are demanding the legalisation of their position on the land which they have occupied for more than ten years, Finca 66, which includes the neighbourhoods Pablo Rojas, Che la Reina, Don Bosco, La Blanca, Ñasaindy, Mburucuya and San Antonio in the capital of the Alto Paraná department.
In recent months, the district attorney Arminda Rivas de Monges and Graciela Ortiz, among other officials from the District Attorney’s Office, have ordered the eviction of occupants of Finca 66, based on complaints of invasion of private property by Banamera Paraguaya Ltd. Several of the occupants were arrested.
Carlos Fernandez, president of the pro-regularisation residents’ sub-committee, confirmed that in Finca 66 there are around 2000 families occupying the land, divided up into some 17 settlements.
NUDITY AND AGGRESSION. In a shameless, indecent manner, several of the protestors, male and female, undressed to their underwear. Javier Sanabria Báez, in just his underwear, was carrying a dog in a bikini with the inscription ‘Arminda’ on its back, in allusion to the attorney Arminda Rivas.
On the protestors’ banners were written various slogans discrediting the District Attorney’s Office officials. ‘Arminda Reyes, you’re not a judge so that you can order evictions and … arrests, you’re just fucking corrupt’, could be read on one of the banners exhibited by the protestors.
At one stage, a group of homeless people cornered a reporter from Radio Parque and a journalist from the regional daily TN PRESS, Enrique Daniel Acosta, who would have received a severe beating if it hadn’t been for other journalists present.
The conflict was brought under control by journalists and other leaders pleading for calm from the protestors, who were clearly in a state of agitation throughout.
Monday 7 th July 2008, CDE draft
UltimaHora.com
http://www.ultimahora.com/notas/132584-Sintechos-se-desnudan-en-manifestación-contra-fiscales