About 50 Indigenous people from the Guakikua community, in the district of Caaguazú, have been living in precarious conditions along the old Route PY02 in Coronel Oviedo since February. The families, totaling nine groups, have set up makeshift tents and, in many cases, sleep on cardboard, exposed to the intense cold and rains of recent days.
Community leader Silvio Duarte González said the group had to leave the land they occupied in the Guayakikua region due to a conflict between Indigenous communities. Since then, he said he has repeatedly asked for help from the Paraguayan Indigenous Institute (INDI) and the Caaguazú Governor's Office, requesting a temporary location, tents, blankets, and sheets, but has received no response.
“The biggest needs now are tents, food, and warm clothing for the children, because of the cold,” Duarte said. He explained that the community survives thanks to the solidarity of people who bring food, clothing, and firewood to the camp.
INDI's Indigenous affairs officer, Juan Garcete, acknowledged that the agency has no resources to provide food and that Indigenous groups are “very disorganized,” without a fixed leader, which complicates management. Garcete said the Caaguazú Governor's Office usually provides periodic assistance with food, but admitted that the help is never enough.