IP Agency – Asunción, Paraguay, April 23, 2025, – For over six days in the first half of April, Paraguay participated alongside other representatives from communities, organisations, and collectives across the continent in the International Seminar on Living Community Cultures, which took place in the first half of April 2025, and the 6th Latin American Congress of Living Community Cultures, held from April 11 to 16, both in Cherán, Mexico. During this time, Paraguayan cultural managers shared knowledge, experiences, and perspectives in traditional “circles of the word,” an ancestral methodology that promotes horizontal dialogue, active listening, and collective construction.
Our country participated under the slogan “Caring for the Common to Defend Life,” through the National Secretariat of Culture, as a member of the IberCultura Viva program. The Paraguayan delegation consisted of five representatives who engaged in spaces for reflection and exchange, addressing fundamental themes for community cultural processes and the construction of public policies from the grassroots level.
In the various “circles of the word,” topics such as Art and Culture for Social and Cultural Transformation, Popular Peasant and Indigenous Education, and others were discussed. Among the panels were Paraguayans Lourdes Díaz, Joe Giménez, Rocío Villalba, Félix Fariña, and Gustavo Díaz.
The Congress reaffirmed the role of community networks in defending common goods, living cultures, and the identities of peoples. From Cherán, a territory that represents the self-determination of indigenous peoples, the commitment was renewed to continue collectively building alternatives that promote life, memory, and diversity.
The next edition of the Congress is scheduled for 2026 in Colombia, where an expanded participation from Paraguay is expected, including indigenous communities and more grassroots organisations.
Paraguay is one of the first countries to join the IberCultura Viva program, an intergovernmental cooperation initiative approved in October 2013 during the 23rd Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, held in Panama City.
In similar news, the Organisation of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OEI) recently launched the second edition of the Bartomeu Melià Award for Ibero-American Intercultural Education and Plurilingualism.
