A group of pre-candidates for councilor in Asunción denounced the existence of alleged 'parallel cash' collection funds in municipal markets and the capital's bus station. According to the complainants, people posing as municipal employees would be charging fees that do not enter the city hall's coffers, but instead finance electoral campaigns of councilors and pre-candidates, in the context of this year's municipal elections.
Ever Escalante, a pre-candidate for councilor from the Colorado Añetete movement of the National Republican Association (ANR, Colorado Party), stated that only at Mercado 4 about 100 million guaranis per day would be collected, which would be diverted to campaigns.
In response, the director of Mercado 4, Alejandro Buzó, categorically denied the existence of parallel cash funds. He assured that the entire collection system is transparent, with charges based on established taxes and issuance of receipts for each transaction. Buzó classified the complaints as 'nonsense' and 'historical legends', arguing that the numbers presented are unrealistic. 'It is very difficult to talk about parallel cash when the numbers are very far from reality: those 100 million guaranis daily are absolutely exaggerated. The average collection of Mercado 4 is around 320 million guaranis per month. We are talking about more than 2 billion guaranis difference,' he declared.
Buzó added that his management directly combats irregular charges for alleged maintenance and other concepts. He challenged the whistleblowers to present concrete evidence of the existence of a parallel cash fund.
On the other hand, Leonardo Ojeda, a permit holder at Mercado 4, stated that there are still irregular charges by a group linked to councilors. He clarified that formalized permit holders are not affected, but rather those installed in unauthorized locations. 'Those who pay the fee legally have no link with them, but there are people in improper places who allow working in those locations to charge and do not give receipts,' he said.
Other permit holders, however, indicated that the situation was regularized after the intervention led by Carlos Pereira. According to them, currently a fee of 10,000 guaranis per point is paid, with issuance of a receipt of legality. They acknowledged that before the intervention there were irregular payments.