Santiago Peña ignores human rights violations in Paraguay’s Public Health Sector

By Peter Tase

Since the beginning of his presidency in August 15th, 2023, Santiago Peña has grossly failed to improve the public health administration in Paraguay and fire Jorge Brítez and Benigno López Benítez – brother of former President Mario Abdo Benítez – two flamboyant corrupt public servants of the Institute for Social Provision (IPS) that have abused with public finances and allegedly exerted traffic of influence in the conduct of public health policies, since Mario Abdo Benítez’s administration (2018-2023). Both Brítez and Benítez are the principal pillar of business cooperation between Peña and Abdo’s cronies that continue to administer Paraguay’s public health system for their personal benefit and sapped financial resources from public coffers that are destined to build new hospitals and health centers across the nation.

Furthermore, up until August 12th, 2024, the then Paraguayan Civilian Cabinet Chief Lea Giménez has provided shelter to corrupt autocrats within the country’s public health system including Britez and Benitez. In cooperation with Minister of Public Health María Teresa Barán, Former Minister Lea Giménez, with a PhD in economics from Lehigh University has emerged as the main architect of further deteriorating Paraguay’s already poor public health standards. Apparently Gimenez’s extended stint in the United States did not appropriately educate her with the tenets of effective leadership in public administration let alone implement sound economic policies in a third-world country such as Paraguay. Similar to Santiago Peña, Ministers Lea Giménez, and Teresa Barán have demonstrated poor leadership skills and employed underhand techniques to favor their “angels of mercy” in the Regional Hospital of Encarnación (Dirección de Docencia del Hospital Regional de Encarnación), where a new wave of psychological torture against medical interns appears to be exacerbated over the last three years in Itapúa. Moreover, medical doctors that have denounced white-collar crime, Raúl Emilio Real Delor from the National University of Itapúa (Universidad Nacional de Itapúa) and Américo Ayala Saucedo (UNI), argue that from 348 interviews recently conducted with Medical interns working in 32 hospitals, 339 questionnaires have reflected significant degree of psychological torture and elevated discrimination during their pro bono services offered to public hospitals.

Psychological distress and overworking of medical interns consist in pressuring these young professionals to work continuously for over 36 hours non-stop and being deprived from using the showering facilities when working for excessive periods of time and dealing with a plethora of viruses in poorly built, organized public hospitals.

While President Peña is delivering fake speeches at the Western Hemisphere Security Forum speaking on human rights and defense of Democracy and Freedom, his country has become a money laundering paradise for International terrorist organizations and a regional financial hub for the traditional enemies of the State of Israel. Peña’s Paraguay has shown complete incompetence to secure its land borders with Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina. Santiago Peña has also officially requested in August 8th, 2024, to the Biden – Harris Administration to immediately terminate the diplomatic tenure of U. S. Ambassador Marc Ostfield in Asuncion; an unprecedented move for a head of state who pretends to fight international terrorism and openly refuses to work with Washington’s staunchest crusader of the war against Hezbollah in South America.

Instead of anxiously pursuing photo ops with the United States nominee for Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau in Washington D. C. , President Peña should urgently focus on tackling the brutal violations of human rights in the Regional Hospital of Encarnacion, and suspend from practicing all arrogant medical doctors, including Dr. Nelly Avalos and her team of accomplices; whose grave actions continue to inflict irreparable psychological traumas to Paraguay’s youngest generation of medical doctors.

As a nation, the Republic of Paraguay is in desperate need for medical doctors and an overwhelming poor training infrastructure paired with harsh psychological conditions adopted by incumbent medical doctors, are seriously corroding the healthcare landscape in Encarnacion. In March 2025, Teresa Barán will inaugurate the main Campus of the Southern Hospital (El Gran Hospital del Sur) in Encarnación, meanwhile Peña’s administration has not been successful to hire physicians and other medical specialists, nor has it shaped strategies for innovative pipelines into the healthcare industry. Paraguayan public health sector is at a crossroads and it is the constitutional obligation of Santiago Peña to combat endemic corruption in Encarnacion and stop traveling internationally, on average twice a month, for leisure and tourism using public funds provided by America’s poorest nation.

The views and opinions expressed by guest columnists in their op-eds may differ from and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff.