Discussions between pro-government and opposition militants, which in several cases led to fights with blows, took place in the electoral day developed this Sunday in Paraguaywhere the voters turned out massively and mostly peacefully to cast their vote in a day in which the conservative Colorado partywhich he presents as a candidate for santiago penadisputes the Presidency with Ephraim Alegreof the National Concertation, a heterogeneous conglomerate of parties that cover the entire political spectrum.
In the municipality of sapucai, 92 kilometers from Asunción, representatives of the Civic Board and the Concertación opposed the installation of the voting machines inside the classrooms of the electoral college, which gave rise to a fight with militants of the Colorado Party that left one wounded and two detainees, according to the General Commander of the National Police, Commissioner Gilberto Fleitas.
in the brawl, Lawyer Luis Cáceres, representative of the National Republican Alliance (ANR, Colorado Party), lost part of his right ear and was transferred to the Regional Hospital of the department of Paraguarí. The president of the Civic Board, Rubén Dawey, and the representative of the Concertación, Gilberto Carrera, were arrested for this attack.
The political disagreements, in this case between the members of the Colorado Party, led to another fight in the municipality of Quyquyhó, also in the department of Paraguarí, where councilor Sergio Bobadilla, a follower of former president Horacio Cartes (2013-2018), denounced who was attacked by deputy Martín Samaniego, who is running for re-election.
Another disturbing incident occurred in the municipality of San José de los Arroyos, in the department of Caaguazú, east of Asunción, where some 400 people were left without participating in the elections after the members of the roundtable got into an argument. with representatives of parties that were allegedly inducing the vote. Those responsible for the table suspended the process and the prosecution will investigate the possible criminal responsibility of those responsible for the incident.
The opposition candidate Efraín Alegre denounced that armed individuals occupied a school in the town of Yby Pytá and prevented the community from voting, which led him to request the intervention of the President of the Republic himself, Mario Abdo Benitez.
On the other hand, at the polling place where former president Horacio Cartes voted, members of his security team threw ABC Color journalist Brian Cáceres to the ground when the informant tried to ask some questions to the also president of the Colorado Party, whom at the end of January, the United States authorities sanctioned it for considering it “significantly corrupt”.
Since before the opening of the electoral premises, incidents and even isolated acts of violence began to be reported, according to statements by the Attorney General of Paraguay, Emiliano Rolón, who in statements to the press celebrated the “massive” turnout of citizens at the premises voting and affirmed that the elections were carried out normally, despite some “skirmishes”.
“We organize well the task of ensuring that there is coordination, not only at the level of the public ministry, but also of the Electoral Justice and the National Police, and I think that this is noticeable in the premises, although there are some skirmishes typical of the effervescence of the moment,” he said.
A massive influx from the early hours of the morning and the crossing of accusations between representatives of the ruling party and the opposition have characterized the development of this electoral day, in which almost 4.8 million citizens are called to elect president, vice president, senators, deputies and governors.
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