With Guillermo Yegros, of Parmalat Paraguay

“One always hopes
for greater changes”

Guillermo Yegros has worked in PARMALAT since 1994, before it was even called that, as the Italian transnational corporation only came to Paraguay a year later, when it purchased the San Lorenz plant. Yegros is currently the general secretary of the Parmalat Workers' Union. He is a seasoned trade unionist and an expert on Paraguay's dairy sector.

-What did you think of the IUF Global Dairy Conference?

-We thought it was great. We come from a country with a very deteriorated labor movement, so we've learned a lot here. It was a great experience because we had a chance to share with a lot of people from many countries around the world.

-You had to travel 15 hours by bus just to reach Buenos Aires. Was it worth it?

-There are five of us in our delegation, and we all found it really stimulating. To me it was great surprise, because I'd never participated in such a large conference and I'd never seen an event that, even with that many participants, was so perfectly organized.

-How would you define the situation of Paraguay's labor movement today?

-Paraguay's labor movement is discredited. It has no credibility and no clear direction. And Paraguayan workers are completely unprotected. They have no support. The labor movement has declined enormously.

-It didn't get any better with the government of Fernando Lugo?

-No. The Lugo administration turned out to be no different than others. We had very high hopes with Lugo. But the government is still in the hands of the economically and politically powerful, the same groups that were in power before. His government has hit a dead end and people are disillusioned.

-But it's not easy for the government to support the labor movement, with so many trade union federations, the high level of union fragmentation and dispersion…

-That’s true. But I repeat, the only changes we've seen here are nominal changes: the Labor Ministry is still in the hands of economically powerful groups, and there are even rumors that they intend to reform the Labor Code to introduce more flexible norms. If that happens the labor movement will be completely destroyed.

-Because there's not much you can do with a movement that is so highly divided and has such a low membership.

-That's correct. Things are really complicated.

-However, your trade union organization has demonstrated over time that workers can fight for their rights, that trade unions can achieve benefits for workers, that workers can unite…

-We've had enormous support from the IUF. Every time we had a problem, the IUF was there to help us. Many international campaigns have been organized in these past years to support our trade union. You yourself have often traveled to Paraguay to help us; other times it was Carlos Amorín who gave us valuable advice and guidance.

-I remember that at one point you were fired when you were occupying the position of general secretary of your union…

-Yes, and thanks to the unity and mobilization of my fellow unionists and the efforts of the IUF, I was reinstated.

-What's the situation of trade union federations in Paraguay?

-In my opinion, for all intents and purposes they don't exist. If a trade union has a problem, it has nowhere to turn. It's very hard to change this situation. Paraguay has a fairly small number of workers, so it's ridiculous for us to have five or six trade union federations.

-You know a great deal about milk production at the primary level. What's the situation of small dairy farmers in Paraguay?

-I'm from the countryside, and I'm familiar with rural production, so I know there are some medium-sized dairy farmers who are obtaining certain benefits from the government. For example, the Livestock Ministry offers a rural family program that has been beneficial to some producers, but has left out many others.

We're starting to see an interesting expansion, though, with the emergence of new dairy farms and a lot of people working in dairy production.

-Do you have the same problem as in other countries, with the price paid for milk?

-We've always had that problem, but now there is a milk shortage in our country and dairy farmers are benefiting from a fierce competition among industrial producers, so they're getting paid better prices.

-Are soybean crops displacing dairy farms in Paraguay as is happening in Argentina?

-Yes, that happens a lot, especially near the border with Brazil, where large Brazilian landowners are buying up land to plant soybean.

The government is taking action in that sense and has decreed that no lands can be purchased within a certain distance of the border. But just like in Argentina, land is becoming increasingly concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, and there are more and more foreign landowners.

-So the government is doing something good?

-(Laughter) It's not all bad. But we expected much more from this government. One always hopes for greater changes…