Senator Rubén Velázquez asked the Paraguayan government to update and make public the revenues received by the state from its stake in Latam Airlines and from gold mining in Paso Yobái, in the department of Guairá. The lawmaker also questioned the energy tariff applied to crypto-mining farms.
During a Senate session, Velázquez said the Paraguayan state owns 5% of the airline and pointed out that the latest dividend records available on official portals date from 2019. That year, revenue reportedly exceeded 3.7 billion guaraníes. In the senator’s view, the expansion of the regional air market requires updated accountability for any profits distributed since then.
The lawmaker argued that these resources should be directed to areas facing budget shortfalls, especially public health. “These resources could help precisely to ease the problem in our public health system, at least so that we have enough medicines and medical supplies,” he said.
The request also covers gold production in Paso Yobái. Velázquez called for verification of the amounts collected by the state in royalties and other payments linked to extraction, arguing that the activity could generate revenue for health, education and infrastructure. The statement did not, however, present a new estimate of the amounts owed or actually collected.
On crypto mining, the senator questioned whether the compensation received by the public authorities corresponds to the operations’ electricity consumption. The activity uses large volumes of energy and has increased pressure on demand in Paraguay, making the difference between the tariff paid by companies, the cost of supply and the revenue reaching the state relevant.
Velázquez maintained that failures in oversight and the collection of these assets should not be offset with new taxes. “We do not necessarily have to create more taxes and put our hands in taxpayers’ pockets,” he said, arguing instead for control over the resources that could already be generated by public holdings, mining and energy tariffs.