By Rodrigo Ibarrola
A few days ago we had published the data of the National Police that refuted the allegations made by the senator of the Patria Querida party, Fidel Zavala, regarding the reports of trespassing. The data revealed that, in fact, these did not decrease as the legislator pointed out. On Saturday, April 23, on the TV show “La Lupa”, Enrique Riera, in defense of his bill that intends to criminalize road blocks, repeated that the invasions decreased to zero. On this occasion we add the data obtained from the Attorney General’s Office (FGE).
According to the data collected, the FGE reported having received a total of 849 complaints of trespassing, typified in article 142 of the criminal code. This amount exceeds, by far, the number reported by the National Police.
Complaints for trespassing on someone else’s property
Source: Own, with data from the Attorney General’s Office.
Reaffirming the figures expressed by the police institution, the Central department is, once again, the area with the highest incidence with 276 reports of invasion, that is, one third of them.
Complaints for trespassing, October 2021 to March 2022, by department
Source: Own creation from data from the Attorney General’s Office.
Moreover, this six-month period shows a similar amount when compared to the previous five years.
Let us recall that both Fidel Zavala and his colleague Fernando Silva, of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party, boasted about the alleged effectiveness of the law, going so far as to affirm that the number of complaints had dropped to zero. This turned out to be totally false.
Complaints of trespassing, from October to March, last five years
Source: Own creation from data from the Attorney General’s Office.
The data also reveals another interesting issue: cyclical behavior. Complaints received tend to decrease in the last quarter of each year in relation to the previous quarters.
Complaints of trespassing, third and fourth quarters (Q3 and Q4), 2017-2021, according to the State Attorney General’s Office.
Source: Own creation, from data from the Attorney General’s Office.
This behavior is also observed in the National Police data, although with a lower number of complaints. The cause of the difference in the number of registered complaints remains to be determined, despite the coincidence in the trends.
Complaints of trespassing, third and fourth quarters (Q3 and Q4), 2017-2021, according to the National Police.
Source: Own creation, with data from the National Police
It should be recalled that both Fidel Zavala and his fellow llanista Fernando Silva, of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party (Partido Liberal Radical Auténtico), boasted about the alleged effectiveness of the law, going so far as to affirm that the number of complaints had dropped to zero. This turned out to be totally false. Therefore, the foregoing reinforces the idea that, far from being an effect of the Zavala-Riera Law, the decrease of complaints for trespassing responds to a cyclical behavior of the activity that deserves a better approach in its analysis, especially when it is clear that these facts can be contained more effectively without the need for a repressive law, as shown in previous years.
We are not journalists. However, we believe that, when statements containing data are disseminated, we understand that a minimum standard of journalistic quality requires that the versions concerned be contracted, in order to avoid amplifying a purely propagandistic discourse. In cases such as these, it is difficult to take media equidistance as an exercise in objectivity, given the extent of the falsehood and its effects on society.
Cover image: Onlinepy.com.py