Groups of truckers threatened Wednesday to besiege the Paraguayan capital to press for a government response to their request to lower fuel prices.
At the end of the third day of mobilizations, punctuated by skirmishes between protesters and police that left several injured and at least five arrested, the drivers announced that they will wait “until tomorrow” Thursday.
«If the government’s response is not favorable to our claim, we will do thatWe are going to besiege Asunción,” Basilio Duarte, representing the drivers, told reporters.
Duarte anticipated that those close to 20 guilds who have joined the protest, including drivers of cranes, passenger transport platforms and trucks, “agree” with advancing to the capital.
The leader regretted that to date they have not had “a single proposal from the Government” to his request to reduce by 1,500 guaraníes (0.22 dollars, 198 Chilean pesos) the price per liter of 93 octane gasoline and type III diesel.
In this context, he ratified the decision of the drivers not to sit down to negotiate with the Executive, which they demand to make their price proposal known through a statement released to the press.
About today’s day, Duarte warned that they were the target of “repression” by the Police, which moved contingents to different parts of the country to avoid roadblocks.
He indicated that five demonstrators were detained at kilometer 66 of route PY02, which connects Asunción with Ciudad del Este, a border town with Brazil.
In addition, he reported that there are wounded with rubber bullets, without specifying their number.
On its Twitter account, the National Police reported that this Wednesday “several troops” were injured during the demonstrations in the city of Itá and had to be treated at a hospital in the area.
The institution warned that it will take “the respective legal actions.”
Already on Tuesday, the Police had reported injuries in the midst of the demonstrations in Itá (located about 37 kilometers from Asunción), including a truck driver who was taken to a hospital.