The 84 organizations of the Union of Fishermen of Paraguay agreed to impede navigation in the country´s rivers starting tomorrow if the government insists on delaying payment of the fishing subsidy.
The fishing strike started last Thursday, but the Social Action Secretariat raised the lack of congressional approval to comply with the provisions, which could take up to two months, according to those affected.
Since September we have been issuing warnings so that the subsidy could be paid on time and now we´re told you do not have the money to comply, said Zarate Bernardo, leader of the fishermen. Besides the delay, the said Secretariat announced that the Ministry of Finance sent a funding request to Parliament for an amount less than that demanded by fishery workers, which would result in a reduction of 250 dollars from the aid claimed by them.
As agreed at a national meeting, the fishermen of the Paraguay River will forcefully block the main waterway for the country’s imports and exports to countries within the region.
Part of the delay, also attributed to the Secretariat, has to do with the clearance of the existing registry of fishermen, but even after that operation, the Government is supposed to pay the subsidy to more than 21,500 members of the Union.
The fishermen´s protest, prevented from receiving the annual income necessary for their families, adds to the wave of social unrest in recent weeks, caused by budget cuts imposed by the Executive in the absence of funds.
Prensa Latina