 For more videos on people's struggles, please subscribe to our YouTube channel. Hello and welcome to Around the World in 8 Minutes, where we at People's Dispatch bring you stories from around the world, stories of people struggling against capitalism, imperialism and other forms of oppression. For our first story, we take you to Paraguay, where thousands of people have been mobilizing in rejection of the national government's mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the deepening of economic crisis and social inequality. Protests began on March 5 amid a surge of COVID-19 cases and the collapse of the health care system. According to reports from Thilisut reporter Oswaldo Zayas, these protests were called for by civil society organizations after a series of complaints were raised by family members of those infected with COVID-19. These family members complained that the country did not have essential medicine to treat them. They also reported that they had to spend large sums of money in order to ensure the survival of their loved ones. The protests also continued this week on March 16 in Asuncion, a peaceful protest was held near the National Congress. In a number of cities, citizens blocked various key roads for hours. The members of the Agrarian and Popular Movement, MAP, a grassroots organization bringing together presence from seven departments in the country, also arrived in the capital yesterday to support the mobilization of young Paraguayans and their demands. On March 17, under the banner of Paraguay is not for sale, it is to be defended, the MAP, the Paraguayan Peasant Movement MCP, the National Coordinator of Homeless People, the National Federation of Secondary Students, and the Coordinator of University Students of the National University of Asuncion, among others, called for a roadblockade of the National Highway 01 in Asuncion starting from seven hours local time. We now go to India where over a million employees of the banking sector in India observed a two-day national strike on March 15 and 16. This was in opposition to the government's move to privatize public sector banks. The union government led by the right-wing Bharati Janata Party is proposed to privatize two public sector banks as part of its larger privatization and disinvestment plan. The employees carried out several protest marches in the capital New Delhi and other major cities, shouting slogans against the government's move. The marches were attended by thousands from other progressive groups including farmers groups and students in women's unions. On March 15, the first day of the strike, trend trade unions and a group of farmers also gave a call for observing the day as anti-privatization and anti-corporatization day. The Central Trade Union said in a statement that protests were carried out at 100,000 spots all across the country. The strike call was given by the United Forum for Bank Unions, which comprises the All India Bank Employees Confederation, the All India Bank Officers Confederation, and the National Confederation of Bank Employees, among other organizations. Bank employees and left parties have been opposing the privatization move by the central government, calling it pro-corporate and anti-people. Unions leading the strike claimed that privatization is expected to impact the working conditions of the bank employees. They also claimed that this can lead to difficulties and access to banking services by the poor, living in remote areas that adversely affecting the social security. The strike call was also supported by major left parties in India. Talking to Newsclick, General Secretary of the AIBEA, C.H. Venkatachalam, said that public banks have been performing well and are in profit, and that the government's claim of the inefficiency is bogus. Citing Better Coordination of Resources and Efficiency, the Narendra Modi-led BJP government has already carried out the merger of 14 public sector banks in the last four years. The mergers were opposed by unions, which saw it as a first step towards privatization. The government has already privatized one public sector bank that's IDBI last year, and is proposed to garner more than 1 trillion Indian rupees, which would be more than US dollars 13 billion, by selling stakes in other public sector banks in the current financial year. The government is planning to privatize the country's insurance sector as well. Finally, we take you to South Africa, where students protest have intensified following the killing of a bystander by the South African police services. Since March 15th, students across our country have been on the streets to implement a shutdown of all higher education institutions following the call given by the South Africa Union of Students. They're demanding the clearance of all historical debt of students and an end to police brutality. Check out our video on this. As it stands on the eighth day of the demonstration, the institution still hasn't addressed the students and really tried to meet their demands, hence why they have taken back to the streets for yet another week to ensure that more students are allowed back into the system. Student representative councils from universities across the country have today joined in the fight against financial exclusion to shut down all university programs. The events of that fateful Wednesday started on the intersection in one contain between Jerusalem Street and Young Smuts Avenue where tires were being burned. Police officers were deployed to disperse the card of students when stunned grenades were thrown at their students. Yet again on the eighth day of the demonstration against financial exclusion, the protest is back on that very same intersection where it all started. The protest is now moving to from the street where a night vigil was held for the late interview. And as I stand behind me is a clinic where we came out to have a doctor's appointment with his doctor. This as I'm standing right now is the spot where the two people just graced. In his media briefing the the institution's vice chancellor Zeblon Villagasi has clearly stated that they are not in any financial position to continue funding or rather helping our students that are in need of the financial assistance because then it would mean that they will not continue sustainably financially. How do you feel about this? So I am actually of the view that they are not for us. They are clearly not for us for them to say that they're not they're clearly not for us. Number one there is a surplus that remained that remained that could assist all these students. They gave themselves bonuses of about 20 million and it doesn't make sense for them to give themselves bonuses whereas the students we haven't registered. So for them to say that they don't have money is a problem on its own but also fear that they must come to the table with us and say okay because we don't have money as they claim they must say okay we're willing to take you students and comrades to the table with national government along with other universities to start a conversation of policy change to see how we can restructure the policy to accommodate each and every individual who qualifies to be at the university. I mean it has already been a week over a week now of protest and it doesn't look like anything is materializing on the side of your demand. What's the way forward from from today onwards and rather this week? So things have actually materialized if we look at UCT they responded according to the events that happened here in Bramfanjain. They haven't materialized on our side as you say as Vets but I would like to believe that we are also assisting other universities by having this demonstration right but we we we want them to take the conversation further and say that okay because we have this problem let's come to the table and then renegotiate everything from the beginning because at this point we have students who are holding the ground will continue to hold holding the ground even if it takes us a month we'll continue closing down businesses to ensure that the economy also has the shape because the economy is the spine of the country if the economy doesn't move the country also doesn't move so we'll continue closing the economy and ensuring ensuring that our demands are met accordingly. As you've heard the Vets SRC is not backing down the students here in Bramfanjain are also not backing down as more colleges have joined in on the protest more protests will follow and will continue for the duration of this week. That's all we have time for today we'll be back next week with more news from around the world until then keep watching People's Dispatch.