Event Summary
In an official statement dated July 16, the Paraguayan Institute of the Indigenous (INDI), the governing body of public policy for indigenous peoples in the country, announced the closure of its offices in Asunción, the capital city, the legal domicile of the entity in accordance with current regulations. Instead, they reported on the opening of three regional offices, one in the Department of Caaguazú, already planned since 2024, and two in the Chaco region. The minister said that the measure adopted by directives received from President Santiago Peña, is part of a decentralization plan, with the aim of bringing the INDI closer to the communities.
Created in 1981, INDI is one of the institutions with the lowest budget. Taken together with the evictions of indigenous communities from their lands and the notable omission of indigenous peoples in President Peña’s annual report to Congress, this lack of attention to indigenous peoples’ needs adds to their marginalization, often resulting in indigenous peoples living in situations of extreme need.
The decision to close INDI was announced after hundreds of indigenous people remained for several days in front of the headquarters of the institution demanding for better service provision and for the dismissal of the president of INDI. When the closure of the central office was announced, police authorities simultaneously reported that the vast majority or protesters had already been transferred to their places of settlement.
Various indigenous organizations have since spoken out in rejection of the government’s decision to close INDI’s central office. ANIVID (National Indigenous Articulation for a Dignified Life) has called out the absence of clear and timely information to indigenous organizations and communities and proposes immediate reopening, compliance with Law 904/81, preservation of historical and administrative documents and establishment of channels of dialogue. The organization MIPy (Articulation of Indigenous Women of Paraguay) warns that the provision not only seeks to discourage the coming of indigenous people to the capital, but also to “make us invisible and silenced.” The MAIPy (Indigenous Articulation Table of Paraguay) highlighted the fact that the decision was taken unilaterally and affects collective rights. Similarly, CONAMURI (Coordinator of Rural and Indigenous Women) denounced that the principle of consultation was not respected and that the so-called decentralization process rather means a suppression of the indigenous presence in public spaces in the country’s capital, the center of political and administrative power. The lack of communication channels for this decision has therefore caused great concern and mistrust among indigenous peoples organizations and raises questions about effective participation and attention to indigenous peoples’ issues