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 8 th , 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.
