Municipal Retirees Denounce Three-Month Pension Payment Delay, Demand Intervention

The Association of Municipal Retirees and Pensioners of Paraguay is sounding the alarm over a severe financial crisis affecting its members. For over two and a half years, these dedicated individuals, who served their communities, have faced significant delays in receiving their rightful pensions. The current situation, with a three-month backlog, is unacceptable and points to a deeper systemic issue within the Municipal Pension Fund.

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Our clamor for more than two years is that we want the intervention of the fund, we want those responsible for the emptying of the Municipal Pension Fund to be identified, and that they return what is missing from the fund.

Our members are not just numbers; they are individuals who have contributed to the public service and now find themselves in a precarious financial state. The repeated delays, sometimes stretching to six months as seen last December, are causing immense hardship. We suspect a technical bankruptcy of the fund, and we demand immediate intervention from the Superintendency of Pensions to investigate and rectify the situation.

We have approached the new head of the institution, Griselda Maribel Figueredo de Giménez, but our pleas for action have not been adequately heard. We are not asking for favors; we are demanding accountability. We want those responsible for the alleged emptying of the fund to be identified and made to return what is missing. The current authorities, who have been in their positions for an extended period, are questioned for their role in this ongoing crisis.

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The fund is in technical bankruptcy, so with that clamor we approach the superintendency. We want the intervention, as I said, and we want the regular, systematic collection of our retirement benefits.

The suspension of the fund's elections on multiple occasions, using procedural tactics, has prevented any change in leadership and perpetuates the problem. While the fund has presented a second plan of adaptation, we cannot wait a year for its implementation. The regulations need to be streamlined, and a swift resolution is imperative. Our patience has worn thin, and we will continue to advocate for the regular and systematic payment of our pensions.

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We are not here to wait a whole year for this adaptation plan of the fund to be fulfilled. So, it is too long, they have to reduce all the regulations.