YABEBYRY, Misiones — The memory of Pastora Concepción Céspedes, a nurse who accompanied her son until his death in the Chaco War, will gain a mausoleum in San Francisco Solano Square in downtown Yabebyry. The initiative, which has the support of the Armed Forces, the Cultural and Tourist Collective of Misiones, and the local government, began to be executed this week.
The materials for construction arrived on Monday. The work will be carried out by military personnel and should be completed in 12 to 15 days. The goal is to inaugurate it before or on June 12, when the signing of the Chaco Peace Protocol is commemorated, which ended the conflict between Paraguay and Bolivia in 1935.
Pastora Concepción Céspedes is considered a national heroine for her role as a nurse during the war. Her son, 2nd Corporal Francisco Arsenio Céspedes, died in March 1933 in the Battle of Campo Jordán. She buried him herself in Fortín Muñoz and built a hut next to the grave, where she lived until she was found dead, embracing her son's cross, on January 10, 1959.
The project had been in the works for years, and the support of the Armed Forces was decisive in making it viable. In addition to the mausoleum, a mural is planned with the names of former Chaco War combatants from Yabebyry.
The remains of Pastora and her son were in Fortín General Díaz, in the district of Teniente Esteban Martínez, department of Presidente Hayes, in the Paraguayan Chaco. They were transferred to Yabebyry on August 17, 2021, in urns, thanks to the effort of Elsa Jara viúva de Amarilla and the Cultural and Tourist Collective of Misiones.