By Ellis Cortez
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
ASUNCION, Paraguay – Eight Paraguayan bus drivers have nailed themselves to crosses in a protest against being laid off from their jobs two months ago. They have vowed to continue their protest until they are reinstated.
They protested in mid-July outside the offices of the Vanguardia bus company, their former employer. After realizing they were not going to be reinstated they crucified themselves three weeks ago across the street from Vanguardia’s headquarter in the Paraguayan city of Luque, a town north of the capital, Asuncion.
The protesters are on their backs, nailed to wooden crosses laid out on the ground. Large nails pierce their hands at the base of the fingers.
The bus company says it has done everything in its power to try to find a solution to the labor conflict. The general manager of the Vanguardia bus company, Aufredi Paredes, said five of the drivers would be re-hired and the other three would receive legal separation payments and assistance in finding employment.
Paredes stated “we have done a little bit of everything to find a solution, including calling on the human rights commissions from the (Paraguayan) Senate and the Lower House. We have also met with the workers several times, but their leadership has been inflexible. We have followed labor regulations and will continue to abide by the law.”
However, Juan Villalba, one of the drivers crucified said they would not give up their protest until they all are reinstated. Villalba told Paraguayan media that his group is willing to take the protest “to the very end,” regardless of the consequences. Villaba, is also the secretary of the Paraguayan Federation of Transportation Workers.
Villalba alleged they were fired after asking for overtime pay, medical insurance and state pension contributions. “The drivers are tired of being exploited,” he said. Some of the drivers’ wives are taking turns being nailed to crosses alongside their husbands.
Damián Espinola, communications director with the Luque municipal government, has stated that the bus drivers are “also on hunger strike and some of them are in critical condition. They only drink water. They don’t consume any solid food. Their hands are perforated.”
There have been several meetings between representatives of the bus drivers, the company and mediators, but they have been unable to reach a resolution. The protest by the eight is part of a larger labor action by some drivers for Vanguardia. There are currently a total of 50 bus drivers on strike, but there has been no interruption of service.
For more information please see:
CNN – Fired Paraguayan bus drivers crucify themselves in protest – 31 August 2013
Reuters – Fired Paraguayan bus drivers have themselves nailed to crosses – 30 August 2013
The Telegraph – Sacked Paraguayan bus drivers crucify themselves in protest – 30 August 2013
ABC News – Laid-off Paraguay Bus Drivers Crucified in Protest – 28 August 2013
BBC – Sacked Paraguay bus drivers stage crucifixion protest – 28 August 2013
