RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – (Infobae) He is 70 years old and has always looked at politics with wit and humor, although these are not exactly amusing times in Paraguay. Euclides Acevedo, Foreign Minister since January in the government of Mario Abdo Benítez, believes that the president should take bold steps to change his country’s troubled history and project a different future. How bold? Constitutional reform and a “second republic”.
“The nation must be re-founded through a second republic that would require a constituent national assembly,” said Acevedo in an interview with Infobae in which he accepted that Abdo has a different position, although “he is not opposed to a reform.”
Acevedo also discussed the operation of MERCOSUR and disagreed with the president of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, who defined it as “a corset.” Moreover, the Minister believes that Fernando Lugo, ex-president of Paraguay, is wrong when he compares the country’s current situation with “the Paraguayan March of 1999,” which left eight people dead and a tremendous institutional crisis after the assassination of the then vice-president, Luis María Argaña.
“What I would least like is a repetition of March ’99 (…). In spite of our civil and cultural shortcomings, the people are combative and insurgent in the good sense of the word. Because Paraguay is a peaceful country, but not a docile one.”
What is happening in Paraguay, and why?
Here we are all survivors of some tremendous disasters, so what is one more? It is a reflection of the health pandemic, the exhaustion of a political legal system with an expiration date. My position is to re-found the nation through a second republic that requires a national constituent assembly. An economic, social and, above all, cultural transformation. We have not completed the transition process. In Spain it was short-lived because there was a political pact. Here there was everything but a political pact. This is social exhaustion, political fatigue and a consequence of everything that is happening in the continent too.
Does President Abdo Benítez share this position of re-founding the nation?
No, because I am not part of the President’s party, I am part of a different philosophy, although I am a republican like him. But I believe that he is not totally opposed to a new Constitution. However, there are subtleties on how to approach the constituent assembly. Some believe that the Constitution should be changed only to simplify reelection, and in my opinion, reelection is a supplement within the Constitution. Here we must reform other structures of the State. From the reform of the judiciary to a remodeling of the legislative branch, but above all a secular and liberating educational policy.
Does this crisis mean that the Paraguay that grew and attracted investments was an illusion rather than a sound business?
No, no, no. Not at all. . Our food production economy has grown remarkably in the pandemic. Our macroeconomy is solid and proven, and that will enable growth in 2021. But there is no growth converted into development if there is no fiscal and social equity policy. In macroeconomic terms, Paraguay is absolutely healthy. What is lacking is an administrative and political management that would allow an efficient administration of our economic power. It will be the country that will have suffered the least negative impact of this pandemic in the region; we will grow at 4%. The data are healthy, but the microeconomic reality is distressing, because this pandemic has affected our defense and even survival mechanisms.
Ex-president Fernando Lugo said he saw similarities with March 1999, when Luis María Argaña was assassinated. Do you agree?
I partially agree with what President Lugo says, but this March has nothing to do with the Paraguayan March of 1999, in which I was an active protagonist in favor of freedom and democracy. I would not like to see a repetition of March ’99. This protest is peaceful and a healthy popular unrest. It means that despite our civil and cultural shortcomings there is a combative and insurgent people in the good sense of the term. Because Paraguay is a peaceful country, but not a docile one.
Why has Paraguay faced so many challenges in procuring vaccines and in immunizing?
It has encountered difficulties for the following reasons. We are committed to multilateralism, to the Covax project. We have been the first to pay but it is like the Wise Men, we provide the water and the pasture and the Wise Men never came. This forced us to resort to bilateral negotiations, such as with Russia and with Chinese laboratories. Pfizer is too expensive for our budget. We have already paid Russia for 1 million doses and we have only received 4,000. We do not know if it is a stock or freight issue, but we have done our homework. Not only to buy vaccines, but in ten months to prepare for the health issue. Unfortunately, we lacked management capacity to meet the expectations we raised at the start of the pandemic.
Where did the Paraguayan government fail?
There was a lack of management capacity, because there was good planning. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) projected 15,000 deaths in Paraguay by December, and we have not reached 3,500. It is a grim statistic, but it shows that we are well prepared. We are saturated, but we have not yet collapsed. The vaccine issue exposes the global inequality with respect to the production and distribution of vaccines worldwide. There are countries with 7 times the amount of their population. A universal humanitarian good became a business tool.
Are you talking about a progressive government like Canada?
Canada 7 to 1. The profit drive has trumped the declared laws of universal solidarity.
Did Pfizer demand unacceptable conditions, as denounced by the Argentine and Brazilian government?
We do not have -80ºC freezers, which are also very expensive. Our Treasury is not in a position to buy from Pfizer. What we need is training and specialists in intensive care. We are surviving. The distress and fatigue of the most unprotected people is turning this into social unrest of an economic nature with political consequences.
Chile has donated vaccines, how did that come about?
It has already sent us vaccines, we received 20,000 doses of the Chinese vaccine as a donation. And this does not affect Chile’s vaccination plan, which is one of the most successful in Latin America. We expect 300,000 Covax vaccines to be delivered by late April. And we are still waiting for the Russians to send us the 996,000 we are lacking. And we are negotiating with others. From the Arab Emirates to India, from the United States to Japan. We want the vaccines to come and that’s it.
Argentina has donated vaccines to Bolivia. Did the government of Paraguay make a similar offer?
No, but we have received letters from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Casa Rosada in the sense of providing us with some doses they are buying from Russia and when we have vaccines we will pay them back. There are gestures of solidarity from Argentina and Uruguay as a consequence of the Chilean gesture. Foreign Minister Solá has been extremely generous in his approach and practical in his offer.
Chile donates them to Paraguay and Argentina and asks for them to be returned, is this so?
It doesn’t matter to us. We want the vaccines now. And maybe they (the Argentines) will even eventually donate them, it is a matter of negotiation. We are also negotiating with Brazil, but these internal political issues are delaying everything. I am going to soon meet with the Brazilian and Argentine Foreign Ministers so that we may set up a common pool to which we can all have equal access. Next week I will meet with my friend Minister Solá and then on March 26th at the MERCOSUR Summit.
Will the impeachment proceedings that the PLRA and the Frente Guasú want to open against President Abdo succeed?
I am afraid not. Not only because the votes are not enough, and an impeachment trial is about votes, about numbers. And it would be the worst thing that could happen to Paraguay, an unnecessary institutional breakdown that will isolate us even further. Political trials tend to bring prosperity, they affect the economy and the confidence of the population. In any case, it is a valid constitutional resource, but it is not the best for the republic.
Would you vouch for Cartes not joining the impeachment proceedings?
I have no clairvoyant abilities to be able to vouch for anyone. Only for myself, but it seems to me that in the end common sense and reason will prevail. I am also sure that the government will take note and will implement the changes it is doing to satisfy the citizens’ demands more energetically.
Are you concerned about what is happening in the Argentine province of Formosa?
Yes, because the pandemic does not respect borders, the pandemic is not only health-related, it is also political and social. We have tried several times with our friend Gildo Insfrán to reach transit and traffic agreements and to reach a health protocol that is compatible with the economic and commercial one. We are concerned, of course we are concerned about what is happening with our neighbors. In Formosa and in Posadas.
What agreements have you not reached with Insfrán?
They have not reached agreements because they are concerned and they have an extremely tight health cordon. Even the people from Chaco can’t go to Formosa. But we are going to keep on insisting. The sister province of Formosa is our privileged neighbor along with Misiones, and we want to find some opening.
What is the Paraguayan government asking from Formosa?
To try to find a health and commercial protocol, as we did with Ciudad del Este and Foz de Iguazú, or between Pedro Juan Caballero and Ponta Porá. We want border agreements as soon as possible, for us it is extremely concerning that Paraguayans are not allowed to enter Argentina.
If Insfrán does not offer solutions, can’t you discuss the issue with the national government? You are about to visit Argentina.
It is one of the points we are going to raise when I meet with Solá next week. The pandemic can’t isolate us this much. With precautions there are solutions, but this damn bug does not respect emergencies or economic needs.
The Uruguayan president, Luis Lacalle Pou, refers to MERCOSUR as a corset. Do you agree with him?
No, our position is intermediate. We are not opposed to discussing the scope of flexibilization, which is a seductive word, but we still believe that we will always be able to negotiate better when we negotiate as a bloc, which does not mean that there are not some exceptions that allow us to claim the right to bilateralism. This is one of the issues we are going to address in Buenos Aires, and President Lacalle Pou has had the courtesy and the political finesse to summon us to explain what he discussed with President Bolsonaro and President Fernández. What we all agree on is that the flexibilization should never be to the detriment of the consolidation of MERCOSUR.
Your friend, Minister Solá, maintains that Lacalle Pou’s perception of MERCOSUR as a corset is unfortunate.
If it were a corset it would be truly dangerous. But I believe it is not a corset. In my ignorance of foreign policy I can clearly perceive that MERCOSUR is a catalyst for management and growth, not for restriction. I do not like corsets, I like comfortable belts, but with a flat stomach.
As Foreign Minister, you must know something about foreign policy, there can’t be that much ignorance…
Some know more than I do, and my seniority compels me to be modest. But being modest doesn’t mean being insecure, because I have some great collaborators.
President Alberto Fernández does not want to open MERCOSUR any further amid a pandemic. Is MERCOSUR moving toward a two-speed system, with Argentina lagging behind?
Some say that Brazil does what it wants in MERCOSUR, Argentina does what it can, and Paraguay and Uruguay do nothing. It’s a nice media spin, but it has no sociological rigor. In any case, there are always speeds. The important thing is that we do not remain stagnant. And we can only progress through dialogue.
What are you asking Minister Solá for, what does Paraguay want that Argentina has not given you yet?
I have nothing but words of gratitude for the Argentine nation, since 1947 when it sheltered us after the Civil War, all the economic pandemic of our country, Argentina has always been supportive. I have asked Minister Solá for more energy in the economic bilateralism and, above all, for a modern, efficient, productive and profitable use of the principal waterway. Paraguay is the third largest river fleet in the world, and that must serve the region.
Uruguay presents itself as Paraguay’s outlet to the sea and to the world. Is this correct?
Absolutely correct. We have the right to access the sea to seek economic prosperity and access of our products to other markets. We will count on the solidarity of the ports of Buenos Aires and Montevideo. And the union of the Atlantic with the Pacific through the bi-oceanic corridor that passes through the Paraguayan Chaco. I want to meet Solá personally although I know quite a lot about him because I am very curious about what is happening in Argentina, but what the media say is one thing and meeting my colleague personally is another. Our trade experts are expecting a generous agenda from our Argentine counterparts, we have had our bags packed for more than a month. I don’t know why this can’t happen. I think I will eventually meet with the Foreign Minister before the Vice Ministers of Economic Affairs meet with their Argentine counterparts.
The guaranteed solution is the one offered by Uruguay and in order to secure one from Argentina you must deal with Solá. Is that so?
We are going to discuss with Solá about greater conveniences, but we are not going to forego the port of Buenos Aires.
What does Paraguay want from Brazil in Itaipu and from Argentina in Yacyretá?
The revision of Annex C, we are equal partners, on equal terms. We want the benefit to serve as a development platform for the region. Yacyretá must be a means of regional growth. We have to use what we earn to invest in continental development.
Are you confident that Argentina and Portugal will succeed in signing the treaty between the EU and MERCOSUR?
I am afraid not. It is completed but not signed. I am afraid that there is a certain prejudice or selfishness of some EU countries that have a certain right to veto, I do not know why. We must be patient, time will pass but it will not kill. We must have much patience and much saliva, but I do not believe that the agreement will be reached this year, it took more time than it should have. And I tell you something else: in Paraguay there is a great deal of self-confidence, psychoanalysts would starve to death here.
As ex-Minister of the Interior, how dangerous and concerning is the Triple Border today?
It is extremely concerning, and this is only going to work with an agreement with Argentina and Brazil, it is an issue that must be approached with great rigor and classified information. Organized crime has its industrial park in penitentiaries, I am referring to the Comando Vermelho, the Primeiro Comando da Capital, etc., which penetrate our borders, which are vulnerable, contaminating even political players.
This is worrying, we have to take it very seriously because it will ultimately contaminate everything. Successful measures are being taken, but fugitives are reported here and not those who are re-captured. But we are frightened, upset, indignant and embarrassed by what is happening, but we have been successful in the last months.
How is it possible that 6 months after the kidnapping of former vice-president Oscar Denis, nothing is known?
There is classified information that can’t be disclosed. It is one of the disappointments and frustrations that I carry from my time at the Ministry of the Interior, not having been successful. But the investigation is ongoing.
Do you believe he is alive?
I have conflicting information. As long as there is no certification of his death, I am compelled to believe that he is alive. And I have much encouraging intelligence. Although I am no longer Minister of the Interior, I am still linked to my old sources who send me all kinds of intelligence. I hope he is alive, he and the other two kidnapped.
How different is Asunción today compared to the city it was 15 or 20 years ago?
I will never forget what Carlos Perciavalle used to say in a sort of remake of a raffle he used to do. “First prize, a week in Asunción!”…. “Second prize, two weeks in Asunción!”. Today the first prize is one month in Asunción, and it can be extended!
Interview: Infobae