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Guajayví Indigenous communities outraged by lack of response from Public Works Ministry Image: Sergio Escobar
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Energy & Infrastructure

Guajayví Indigenous communities outraged by lack of response from Public Works Ministry

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Indigenous communities in Guajayví and Santaní, Paraguay, say the Public Works Ministry has not responded to their longstanding requests for bridges.
  • The San José Kupa’y and Virgen del Carmen communities say missing crossings leave residents isolated and limit access to roads and basic services.
  • Community leaders said they need public institutions to help build bridges over the Tava’i and Tapiracuai streams.

Indigenous communities in Paraguay’s Guajayví and Santaní districts say they have received no meaningful response to their longstanding requests for bridges connecting their settlements.

San José Kupa’y, a Mbya Guaraní community in Guajayví with more than 200 years of history, lives in extreme poverty and lacks several basic services. Residents have no proper road or footbridge over a stream, as well as limited access to electricity, drinking water and health care.

Unfortunately, we have no way out of this situation without help from public institutions, so we understand that we will continue suffering the poverty we have faced since our settlement was founded, simply because nobody is interested in our problem.

— Severiano VázquezThe San José Kupa’y leader described the community’s dependence on government support.

Community leader Severiano Vázquez said authorities had never taken the community’s needs into account, including its request for a bridge over the Tava’i stream, which runs along the boundary with a private farm. Without a crossing, residents struggle to move around and become completely isolated when the water level rises.

The Virgen del Carmen community, another Mbya Guaraní settlement in Santaní, faces similar conditions. Leader Néstor Torales said residents have spent years requesting a bridge over the Tapiracuai stream. They want a crossing to connect with La Paloma, where a road leads toward the main highway, but said ministry officials have responded negatively or avoided the issue.

The people of Virgen del Carmen are also demanding the construction of a bridge to connect us with the La Paloma community.

— Néstor ToralesHe explained why residents want a bridge over the Tapiracuai stream.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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