Paraguayan Workers Crucify Selves in Protest of Unpaid Wages

The government of Paraguay has said that that it will meet with protesters who have nailed themselves to crosses since early December claiming they have not been paid for their work.

The Associated Press reports that five people have nailed themselves to crosses outside of the Brazilian embassy in the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion. They are workers who allege they have not been paid for years of work on the Itaipu Dam, which sits on the border between Brazil and Paraguay.

The dramatic nature of their protests has forced the Paraguayan government to respond to the allegations. The country's Work Ministry has scheduled a meeting with the group for Jan. 26 after a sixth man said that he would also nail himself to a cross in protest. 

The protesters represent 9,000 workers who claim they are owed roughly $40,000 each for work they did during the dam's construction between 1974 and 1996.

The five protesters are four men and one woman, the youngest of which is 49. Making the experience of being nailed to a cross all the more harrowing is the fact that it is summer in Latin America. Since the protests began on Dec. 8, the temperature has regularly reached nearly 100 degrees fahrenheit.

The protesters come off the cross at night to sleep, but they otherwise stay nailed to the cross. During the day, they do not even leave to use the bathroom, and have a small group of dedicated attendants to feed them and keep them clean.

The protesters targeted the Brazilian embassy because the dam is administered by a joint venture between Brazil and Paraguay called Itaipu.

The company has rebuffed the workers' claims by arguing that because they subcontracted the work to build the dam, they are not liable for making sure that people are paid.

The workers contend that because Itaipu selected the companies to do the work, they bear the ultimate responsibility for the subcontractors.