Between anxiety and hope, rural workers from the entire country went to Congress to send a clear message to the authorities: the foundations of Lugo´s social support will depend on the fact that the sectors which have been historically left aside leave that situation.

“Change has not arrived, the situation remains the same than before April 20th” stated yesterday Teodolina Villalba, from the National Peasant Federation (FNC) making reference to the date when Lugo won the elections, although he became president in August last year.

The oficial party admits the protests of the organizations are logic, but he asked to keep calm. Rafael Filizzola, Ministry of the Interior, stated that the peasant claims were “fair” and said that the aim of the Executive branch was to carry out an agrarian reform from the current constitution, withouth modifying the law.

Filizzola said his government is “sensitive and consistent” with the needs of the countryside and stated he will do anything in his power to answer the claims of the peasant sector.

The groups which called on the protest estimated that approximately 15 thousand people arrived to Asunción to participate in the march. Subsidies for the areas affected by the draughts, seeds for the next sowing season and laws to promote credits were some of the issues raised.

This march is called on every year since 1994 by the FNC which gathers 270 thousand families of wage-workers and small producers.

This year, the Federation published an investigation which shows that 80 per cent of the arable lands of the country are in the hands of 1 per cent of the owners, and 74 per cent of the lands granted up to year 2000 were left in the hands of people who were not subjects of the agrarian reform.

Peasants blame the Colorado Party for this situation, which ruled the country for 61 years and turned political favoritism into a common and institutionalized thing.

However, the peasant´s position is not exclusively focused on the corruption practices which featured the previous administrations, and also aim at Lugo´s administration.

“The speech of change dominated the electoral campaign and filled with hopes the Paraguayan future, but these illusions seem to be slowly fading”, stated FNC in a public statement.