Colorado Senator Silvio “Beto” Ovelar (ANR, HC) confirmed Tuesday that he reached an agreement with the family of Celso Vera, the 51-year-old man who died after being hit by a pickup truck in which the lawmaker was a passenger, on Route PY02 in Caaguazú. Ovelar spoke for the first time about the accident, which occurred on the night of May 14, and said the understanding was “on good terms.”
“An event like this is always painful because I was a passenger. I was going to a Mother’s Day celebration and, unfortunately, a Paraguayan citizen crossed our path,” the senator told journalists at Congress. He said that at the moment of impact, he was looking at a tablet and only felt “the braking and the impact.”
Ovelar explained that since the accident involving former Colorado Senator Enrique Bacchetta years ago, he decided not to drive on highways anymore. “I never drive. Since the experience of colleague Enrique Bacchetta, I have never driven my vehicle on a road again,” he said.
According to the police report, the accident occurred around 8 p.m. at kilometer 177, in the Colonia Walter Insfrán area of Caaguazú. The black 2019 Toyota Land Cruiser was driven by Mario Rubén Rivas Cubas, the senator’s driver, while Ovelar was in the passenger seat. The victim, Celso Vera, was trying to cross the road when he was struck. Forensic doctor Fredy Flores determined the cause of death as severe cranioencephalic trauma and hypovolemic shock. The investigation is under the supervision of prosecutor Gustavo Chamorro.
Ovelar said he immediately got out of the vehicle to try to help the victim and that he accompanied the family in the following moments. “These are very difficult moments. I was with them the whole time; they are a humble and hardworking family,” he said. When asked about details of the financial compensation, he avoided going into depth: “I don’t want to go into details, but we talked and we already reached an agreement, on good terms.”
At another point, the senator commented on colleague Colym Soroka’s (ANR) project to decentralize the administration of the Hambre Cero program in schools. Ovelar called the proposal “worth considering” but said it “doesn’t have much of a future” in Congress, due to the position already set by the Chamber of Deputies. “Let’s not forget we are talking about 370 million dollars,” he stressed, arguing that the real space for political pressure to modify state programs lies in the handling of the General Budget of the Nation.