A group of women activists met this Tuesday with the president of the Social Insurance Institute (IPS), Isaías Fretes, to seek a joint solution to save the historic house of Serafina Dávalos, Paraguay's first female lawyer and feminist icon. The property, located in Asunción and declared national cultural heritage, is in a state of abandonment and advanced deterioration.
The property was ceded by the IPS to the Attorney General's Office (PGR) last year, through an agreement that provided for its restoration and usufruct. However, the renovation was never carried out, allegedly due to lack of budget. In light of the non-compliance, the IPS Board of Directors analyzed last week a legal opinion recommending the termination of the contract, but chose to postpone the decision to deepen the technical analysis.
The activists, representing various civil organizations, proposed to Fretes the formation of an inter-institutional agreement involving the Ministry of Women, the National Secretariat of Culture, the Ministry of Public Works and Communications (MOPC), the Municipality of Asunción, and the Office of the First Lady. “What we came to propose to the president was to make an inter-institutional agreement to form a team that can take care of the restoration and also seek a functional objective for this house for culture, for events, for research,” explained Senator Esperanza Martínez, who participated in the meeting.
Gabriela Dávalos, great-grandniece of Serafina Dávalos, was also present and argued that the site should be transformed into a cultural space, such as a library or museum, and that the land is large enough to host fairs and concerts. She lamented the current state of the property, which has suffered constant thefts in recent years. “It is a lot of work, and the more time passes, the more work. What we seek in the first instance is to safeguard the land so that they stop stealing. That way, at least we preserve what little remains, because that is the most urgent issue. Recently, they stole the last stained glass windows that were there; there are still doors with carvings and stained glass in terrible condition, but everything they could steal, even the iron from the railings, which were turned, they took,” she said.
According to the participants, the meeting with Fretes was productive, and he showed interest in collaborating with the project. From now on, the activists will begin contacts with the mentioned institutions to formalize the agreement. Senator Martínez stated that she will seek resources in Congress to make the preservation of the heritage viable.