Paraguay’s Chamber of Deputies has placed on its September 15 agenda two bills that present opposing views of Alfredo Stroessner’s dictatorship: one proposal to unblock compensation for victims of the regime, which ruled the country from 1954 to 1989, and another to restore visual elements associated with the flag used during that period.
The regular session, chaired by Raúl Latorre of the National Republican Association (ANR), is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. and will have 10 items. The bill on reparations is first on the agenda. The initiative seeks to address applications submitted under Law No. 838/96, which allowed compensation for the minor children of dictatorship victims.
The authors say the process was blocked after the Attorney General’s Office issued opinions against these requests in 2011 and 2012. The proposal was signed by lawmakers Benjamín Cantero, Carlos Arrechea, Pastor Vera Bejarano, Antonio Buzarquis, Rubén Roussillón, Arnaldo Valdez and Arturo Urbieta, from different sectors of the ANR and the Authentic Radical Liberal Party.
In the final item, lawmakers linked to Honor Colorado — an internal movement of the Colorado Party associated with former President Horacio Cartes — will seek to advance a bill regulating the design and use of the flag, the coats of arms and the national seal, using as a reference a law passed by the Extraordinary General Congress on November 25, 1842.
Although the text is broadly worded, the graphic change highlighted in the proposal is the inclusion of a red border on the national coats of arms, a feature present in the version of the flag used during the Stronist dictatorship. The bill was signed by 14 Cartes-aligned lawmakers and is mainly associated with Yamil Esgaib.
The same session also includes consideration of a sports-inclusion proposal for neurodivergent people, including those with autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia or dyspraxia. Its aim is to ensure nondiscriminatory access to different sports and sports facilities.
Lawmakers will also continue the detailed discussion of a bill amending Article 294 of Law No. 1,160/97, Paraguay’s Criminal Code. Approved in general terms on August 18, the proposal increases penalties for anyone who facilitates, induces or supports the escape of prisoners: up to five years for private individuals and four to 10 years for officials responsible for custody, with aggravating circumstances that could raise the penalty for those officials to between five and 15 years.