The Coordinadora de Víctimas, representing victims of the so-called "promissory note mafia," issued a harsh statement last Saturday, June 20, coinciding with the commemoration of the National Constitution, in which it denounces a situation of "absolute defenselessness" of thousands of Paraguayans affected by wage garnishments and judicial enforcement actions it considers irregular.
In the document, the organization representing around 17,000 victims states that constitutional principles are being systematically violated by a judicial scheme that, it argues, allows the execution of allegedly forged, duplicated, or even canceled promissory notes, without those affected having a real opportunity to exercise their defense.
"The Constitution has been emptied of content and systematically assassinated," the statement says, questioning the functioning of the courts and denouncing the existence of a procedural structure that favors rapid rulings to the detriment of workers and retirees.
The Coordinadora assigns central responsibility to the Supreme Court of Justice for what it considers a failure to control the facts denounced in the scandal. According to the statement, the absence of thorough audits, the lack of exemplary sanctions, and the responses deemed insufficient in the face of the allegations constitute a form of "complicity through omission."
Those affected state that the highest judicial body failed in its duty to guarantee respect for constitutional rights and to prevent the continuation of the alleged irregularities detected in numerous enforcement proceedings. The statement primarily references the right to a legal defense, guaranteed by Article 16 of the National Constitution.
For the organization, many enforcement actions would have been carried out without the defendants' effective knowledge, due to alleged forgeries of court notifications and the concentration of cases involving people from the interior of the country in courts in Asunción and the Central Department. In the Coordinadora's assessment, these practices create geographic and institutional obstacles that prevent citizens from exercising an effective defense.
The document also invokes Article 106 of the National Constitution, which establishes the State's liability for damages caused by its officials. The Coordinadora's representatives, Pedro Coronel and Gabriela Sanabria, argue that the diversion of wages through contested judicial rulings represents a serious breach of the state's obligation to guarantee justice and protection for citizens.
In this context, they state that thousands of affected people find themselves in a situation of extreme vulnerability, without satisfactory responses from public institutions.
The Coordinadora closes the statement with a call to citizens, teachers' unions, retirees' associations, and civil organizations to maintain permanent mobilization. Furthermore, it demands that the National Congress activate the mechanisms provided for in Article 225 of the Constitution to promote the impeachment of those it considers responsible for the failure to control the reported irregularities.
The representatives also demand the urgent approval of bills aimed at preventing the improper withholding of credit instruments and avoiding that new similar cases continue to affect workers and retirees.
"Today we do not celebrate; today we entrench ourselves in peaceful but firm resistance to revive the spirit of our National Constitution," concludes the statement released by the organization.