Capital. Asuncion
Languages. Spanish, Guarani
Ethnic groups. 95% Mestizo (mixed White and Indigenous)
5% Other (including Indigenous)
Religion. 96.1% Christianity —88.3% Roman Catholic —7.8% Other Christian,
2.6% No religion, 0.4% Other, 0.8% No answer
Area. 406,796 km2 (157,065 sq mi) (59th). Water % 2.6
Population. 7,359,000 (104th). Density 18/km2 (46.6/sq mi) (210th)
GDP (PPP) per person. $15,030 (96th)
GDP (nominal) Per capita. $6,230 (94th)
Gini. 46.2 high
HDI. 0.728 high · 103rd
Currency. Guaraní (PYG) xe.com April 2022 – 1 US$=6912; 1€=7520; 1 CAD=5501
Calling code. +595
Get around.
Bus. In Asuncion, there are many city buses going everywhere with signs that show destination. Cost 3,400 (60 cents) but can only pay with a prepaid card, no cash. Finding bus stops is a challenge.
Bus #30 Azul goes to the airport but stops outside. The only way to get into town (60 cents vs $18.00).
These bus drivers are not a friendly bunch. One purposely tried to hit me when I crossed a street on a crosswalk. They will not stop unless you hold your arm out and are at the correct stop (which could be 50 m away).
There are no share vans.
Car. Rentals are expensive (~$100/day with unlimited milage and no excess). You must drive with your headlights on during the day and wear seatbelts or there is a fine.
Gas 84,000 PG//itre ($1.21)..
On April 5th, I had a decision to make – whether to return home or continue traveling to finish South America (Paraguay is my last country in South America and I wanted to see the rest of Brazil, especially Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo). Finishing S America would be a huge relief to eliminate one isolated country from my list. I also have nothing pressing to do at home. I am tired after another long 9+ months of travel but my drive and curiosity keep me going.
I booked a relatively cheap flight to Asuncion on Avianca/Copa via Quito Ecuador and Panama City ($CAD 591, 23+ hours). I had to return the car to the El Salvador airport by 1 pm so had a wait in the airport of over 8 hours (added to my 7 and 5-hour layovers in Ecuador and Panama.
There were no problems transiting Quito and Panama Airports – no Covid tests or visiting documents necessary. The prices in these airports are astronomical. I was unable to sleep in either and had only brief naps on the flights, Paraquay requires no tests if you have a positive within 90 days but has a form that needs to be filled out.
There were many Menonites on the flight from Panama to Ascuncion – huge women with little black bonnets, blond kids with women wearing long dresses.
PARAGUAY – SOUTHEASTERN (Asunción, Encarnación) April 6- 2022
Day 1
I arrived in Asuncion at 1 am quite knackered. I could not get an Uber so paid $18 for a taxi for the 20 km to my hostel (El Nomada $11/night, cash with breakfast). There was one American and some older tourists, but this is not a tourisitic country.
ASUNCION (pop metro 2 million) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the northwest separate the city from the Occidental Region of Paraguay and from Argentina in the south part of the city.
Administratively, the city forms an autonomous capital district, not a part of any department. The metropolitan area, called Gran Asunción, includes the cities of San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambaré, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, Ñemby, San Antonio, Limpio, Capiatá and Villa Elisa.
Asunción is one of the oldest cities in South America and the longest continually inhabited area in the Río de la Plata Basin; for this reason, it is known as “the Mother of Cities”. From Asunción colonial expeditions departed to found other cities, including the second foundation of Buenos Aires and other important cities such as Villarrica, Corrientes, Santa Fe, and Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
It is the home of the national government, the principal port, and the chief industrial and cultural center of Paraguay.
I then had a walkabout in Asuncion.
Mercado Municipal. Near my hostel, this is an unusual market taken up almost exclusively with tables and eateries. There were a few produce stands and a convenience store. It closes in the afternoon.
I stopped at the Mall Excelsior and got some insect repellent (mosquitos are bad in Asuncion) and a Tigo SIM card ($2) with 5 Gigs for 10 days.
National Pantheon of the Heroes. In the NM Architectural Delights:series, this is a grand stone edifice with 6 columns. It was closed due to Covid.
Casa de la Independencia. A house full of furniture and personal items. Free
Loma de San Jeronimo. In the NM Urban Legends series, this small neighborhood has cute houses painted in pastels, murals and a stairway of mosaic tiles.
Costanera de Asunción. In the NM Urban Legends series, this is a large uninteresting park on the water. There were few people here.
ARP Humaitá. A river gunboat built in Italy in 1931 and made 84 trips ferrying troops in the Chaco War with Bolivia. Converted to a museum in Asuncion Bay in 1992. Not open to the public.
Museo Memoria de la Ciudada. In a cultural center (library and auditorium), there were many maps, photos, paintings, a scale model and a time line of the city. Free
Palacio de los López. A grand 2-story palace with a 4-story tower, it was being renovated and couldn’t be visited (although with all the military, it looked like it could never be visited).
The large park between the palace and the cathedral (Plaza de Indepencia) was completely taken over by a tent city and shacks (a slum). The large tents looked very permanent. It was rather depressing. Statues and momemts are hidden between the shacks.
Monument to the Constitution of 1870. In Independence Square (It is in a tiny area surrounded by the shacks of the tent city), this is a high square column with a round column and bronze on top. I has the dates 1870 and 1537, the date Asuncion was founded.
Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Miracles (Catedral Metropolitana de Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion). The main Catholic church in Asuncion, has a silver altar, but otherwise nothing out of the ordinary.
Plaza Uruguaya. In the NM Urban Legends series, this is a large well-treed urban park. All my the gates on the north are locked. The central memorial is a statue of General Artigas (1764-1855), born and died in Uruguay. He was the hero of Uruguay’s independence, was given asylum in 1820, along with 200 of his men. Artigas stayed in Paraguay even after Francia’s death on a pension of $30 a month.
I never buy beer but got 6 Corona to drink at the hostel. Then someone stole them out of the fridge (first time I have anything stolen at a hostel).
Ethnographic Museum Dr Andrez Barbero. Costumes, household and agricultural exhibits. Free
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. 650 works of paintings, sculpture, ceramics, prints, and photographs of Paraguayan and international artists. Also antique coins, furniture. 20000PG
Museum of Sacred Art. In a lovely building, these are museums I rarely like because of all the redundant paintings of Mary and Bambino. This one has many nice polychromes. 25000PG.
Later, I returned to the Mercado Municipal, hoping to have dinner but it was closed.
Next door was a small cafe. I had milanesia – chopped beef, ham slice covered with cheese and spices. It was quite good and copious for 28,000 PG.
Day 2
I tried to rent a car online but it was impossible. So I went out to the airport (bus #30 Azul, 60 cents, 1 hour) and had one arranged with Travel Rent-a-Car quickly (a Kia Picanto for $180 cash for 3 days, unlimited mileage, no excess) and started my drive-about around eastern Paraguay. I decided to not go to Filadelfia as 500 km each way.
Museo del Futbol Sudamericano, Luque. In the NM Sports Museums series, the museum is in the headquarters of the South American Football Confederation. Outside is a gigantic football. The museum has an area of 9,450 square meters, and was built in 2009. It has in its exhibition halls more than 1,800 objects related to the history of South American soccer.
Flags of the 10 members that make up the confederation: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The cups of the competitions organized by Conmebol are also exhibited.
Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia Museum Casa. In the NM CasaHouse and Biographical Museums. A one-story house in the same park as the zoo and botanical garden. It contains portraits of him and his daughter as well as his sweets box, candlestick, and tobacco case. 12,000 PG
De Francia (1766-1840) was a Paraguayan lawyer and politician, and the first dictator (1814–1840) of Paraguay following its 1811 independence from the Spanish Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. His official title was “Supreme and Perpetual Dictator of Paraguay”, but he was popularly known as El Supremo. He is considered to be the chief ideologue and political leader of the faction that advocated for the full independence of Paraguay from the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata and from the Empire of Brazil.
Although he was dogged by suggestions that his father, a Brazilian tobacco exporter, was a mulatto, Francia was awarded a coveted chair of theology at the Seminary of San Carlos in Asunción in 1790. His radical views made his position as a teacher there untenable, and he soon gave up theology to study law. Eventually, he became a lawyer and learned five languages: Guarani, Spanish, French, Latin, and some English.
Francia was disgusted by Paraguay’s casta system, which was imposed by Spain, and as a lawyer, he would defend the less fortunate against the affluent. Francia had the largest library in Asunción. His interest in astronomy, combined with his knowledge of French and other subjects considered arcane in Asunción, caused some superstitious Paraguayans to regard him as a wizard who could predict the future.
He was one of the few men in the country with any significant education and soon became the country’s real leader. On 12 October 1813 Paraguay declared independence from the Spanish Empire.
In March 1814, Francia imposed a law that no Spaniard may intermarry with another Spaniard, and that they may only wed mestizos, Amerindians, or Africans. This was done to eliminate any socioeconomic disparities along racial lines, and also to end the predominantly criollo and peninsular influence in Paraguay. He feared that racial disparities would create tensions that could threaten his absolute rule.
On 1 October 1814, Congress named him as sole consul, with absolute powers for three years. He consolidated his power to such an extent that on 1 June 1816, another Congress voted him absolute control over the country for life. For the next 24 years, he ran the country with the aid of only three other people. According to the historian Richard Alan White, the congresses were actually very progressive for the era; all men over 23 could vote for them.
He cut off Paraguay from the rest of the world by stopping foreign commerce, but carefully fostered its internal industries and agriculture under his personal supervision. Dr. Francia disposed to be hospitable to strangers from other lands and kept them prisoners for years; lived a life of republican simplicity, and severely punished the slightest want of respect. As time went on he appears to have grown more arbitrary and despotic. Deeply imbued with the principles of the French Revolution, he was a stern antagonist of the church. He abolished the Inquisition, suppressed the college of theology, did away with the tithes, and inflicted endless indignities on the priests. He kept the aristocracy in subjection and discouraged marriage both by precept and example, leaving behind him several illegitimate children. For the extravagances of his later years, the plea of insanity has been put forward.” He imposed ruthless isolation upon Paraguay, interdicting all external trade, and he fostered national industries.
He attempted to reorganize Paraguay in accordance with the wishes of the lower classes and other marginalized groups. He greatly limited the power of the Church and the landed elites in favor of giving peasants a way to make a living on state-run estancias. Francia’s government also took over services usually under church supervision, such as orphanages, hospitals, and homeless shelters, to manage them more efficiently. Francia and his policies were in fact very well received by the majority of Paraguayans, excluding the small ruling classes, and his neutrality in foreign affairs kept peace in a period of turmoil.
In February 1820, Francia’s political police quickly crushed a plot by the elites and many leading independence figures to assassinate him. Almost 200 prominent Paraguayans were arrested by Francia, who executed most of them.
Francia outlawed all opposition and established a secret police force. His underground prison was known as the “chamber of truth”, and most of Paraguay’s manufactures were made with prison labor. He abolished flogging, but his implementation of the death penalty was brutal, as he insisted all executions be carried out at a banquillo (“stool”) under an orange tree outside his window. To avoid wasting bullets, most victims were bayoneted, and their families were not allowed to collect the corpses until they had been lying there all day to make sure that they were dead. Upon his death, there were 606 prisoners in Paraguay’s jails, who were mainly foreigners.
Francia abolished higher education on the grounds that it was the nation’s financial priority to fund the army and that private study could be freely conducted in his library. He made state education compulsory for all males in 1828.
Francia lived a spartan lifestyle, and apart from some books and furniture, his only possessions were a tobacco case and a pewter confectionery box. Francia left the state treasury with at least twice as much money in it as when he took office, including 36,500 pesos of his unspent salary, the equivalent of several years’ pay.
Francia imbued Paraguay with a tradition of autocratic rule that lasted, with only a few breaks, until 1989. He is still considered a national hero, with a museum dedicated to his memory in Yaguarón. It contains portraits of him and his daughter as well as his sweets box, candlestick and tobacco case. Paraguayan author Augusto Roa Bastos wrote an ambivalent depiction of the life of Francia, a novel entitled Yo el Supremo (I, the Supreme).
Botanical Garden and Zoo of Asunción. The zoo was disorganized to see but many birds, a coatamundi, puma, jaguars, many Bengal tigers and a hippopotamus. In large treed area. 11,000 PG
The botanical garden was elusive to find. The only garden was a rose garden before the Casa Lopez.
Holy Trinity Church. A large 3-nave church with worn and somewhat gaudy painted ceiling, walls and columns.
Asuncion Paraguay Temple. I entered this modern gray marble square building with a tower, passed some swanky sitting rooms and then was met by an old guy in a fancy white suit. “You can only visit if you have a request from you home bishop.”. Oh well, that was as far as I got.
Catholic Church of the Recoleta. A small single-nave church. The highlights was the metal lamps on the side walls and metal chandeliers.
Mercado Cuatro. This huge market covers both sides of a normal street. It is a maze of shops and one side almost looks like a mall.
SAN LORENZO
San Lorenzo Cathedral (Capilla del S Sacramento y del Perpetuo Socorro). Totally blue with white trim, the interior is green with brown trim and has lovely gothic peaked arches and a vaulted ceiling.
Museo Arqueológico y Etnográfico Guido Boggiani. The usual objects from the Stone Age through to modern times plus costumes, household and agricultural objects.
Day 3
San Bernardino. In the NM Villages and Small Towns, it sits on the shores of Ypacaraí Lake.
I stayed at a small hotel in San Bernardino (Acque Hotel, initially 230,000 but I bargained down to 150,000 PG. Very plain with few electrical plugs.
Railway Complex and English Village of Sapucai Tentative WHS. Located 90km from Asuncion, the town of Sapucai is known for its fascinating railway complex. The town of Sapucai was constructed between 1887 and 1894, and became not just a station on the line, but where the steam locomotive trains were repaired and constructed.
The history of the railway in Paraguay goes way back to the mid-nineteenth century British engineers were hired to be in charge. The main aim was to unite surrounding villages and the interior with the capital city in order to facilitate the marketing of natural resources of the country. It was on this railway line that the first-ever train journey took place in South America on 14th June 1861 from the central station in Asuncion.
The railway system in Paraguay consisted primarily of a 376 km main line of standard gauge between the capital Asuncion and Encarnacion, a city located close to the Argentinean border. Since the opening of the railway line in 1861 to its culmination in 1919. In 1894 the railway complex of Sapucai was constructed complete with its station, a workshop, office buildings and warehouses. Engineering technicians from Britain came to Sapucai to work in the workshop, where repairs and assembling of the trains were carried out. To accommodate for the community of British railway engineers, an “English Village (Villa Inglesa)” was built, which was an estate of houses near the railway complex. A school for the children of the British community was also built there, which was the first English-language school in the country.
In the late twentieth century, the railway network of Paraguay came to a slow down and the railway route through Sapucai came to a halt. Many people lost their jobs, and a bustling town that was once full of energy eventually lost its vigor. However, the workshop still remained open despite the huge drop in the number of workers and activity, and continued to manufacture and provide needed parts for the steam locomotive trains that were still running in other parts of the country.
Even to this day the workshop continues its operation, despite the machinery being extremely old and long exceeding its useful life. The role of the workshop continues to hold great importance as the international market no longer has replacement parts for steam locomotive trains.
Since 2010, a project to restore the collapsing warehouse as a museum was started.
Apart from the railway complex and the English Village, another big attraction in Sapucai is its beautiful landscape. It is surrounded by lush hills and the scenery is absolutely breathtaking. There was plenty of desalinated water and soil rich in humus (for rapid reforestation), which were essential in running a large steam-powered workshop. To add to the amazing landscape, there is also a mysterious stone path, “Tape Boli” that runs from one of the hillsides, which was built by a group of Bolivian soldiers taken as prisoners and held captive in Sapucai during the Chaco War in the 1930s.
With so much valuable history and fascinating landmarks, Sapucai possesses a unique charm not found anywhere else in the country.
The railway complex of Sapucai is considered to be one of the world’s finest examples of railway workplaces dedicated to the maintenance of steam locomotive trains.
The railway complex and English Village demonstrate the railway’s interaction with industry and culture in the day-to-day work of the railway.
The complex has remained complete with its entire infrastructure, including a water tower, shed, turntable, and fuelling facilities. Such an ensemble is rare and deserves conservation and recognition of its values.
This consists of 3 conjoined sheds with a lot of heavy machinery – hoists, lathes, drills, boilers and drive systems, a carpenter’s shop and many tools. Three old engines are inside and one outside. It has not been used for some time. 10,000PG
Sistema Ferrocarril Pte. Carlos Antonio López (05/10/1993) is the name taken in 2000 by the Central Railway of Paraguay (FCCP), the only means of rail transport in the Republic of Paraguay .
History. To build the first Paraguayan railway in 1854 British engineers were hired and sapper personnel of the Paraguayan Army worked.
The works began in 1857 and a 415-meter section from the Army arsenals to the riverside wall near the Port of Asunción was used by horse-drawn foxes. In 1859, the section extended to Plaza San Francisco (today Plaza Uruguaya ) linking the wharf with the central customs office.
In 1861, the section from the San Francisco station (today the Central Station) to Ybyraty (currently the Santísima Trinidad neighborhood) and the section to Luque station were inaugurated and at the beginning of 1862 it reached Areguá. On March 27, 1862, it reached Guazú Vira (Yparacaí) and two months later Pirayú. On July 24, 1864, the Central Station was inaugurated. On August 2, 1864, the section between Pirayú and Cerro León was inaugurated. On October 6, 1864, he arrived in Paraguarí. On November 12, 1864, the actions that led to the War of the Triple Alliance began., being interrupted the progress of the works at the height of Sapucai. During the war, the Paraguayan army raised part of the railway to prevent its use by the allied forces. Being captured all its way by the allies, the railway was precariously reestablished by the Brazilian forces in 1870, shortly before the end of the war.
To pay off war debts imposed by Brazil the railway was sold in 1877 with the charge of continuing the road to Villarrica by building 6 stations.
When the agreement was not fulfilled, in 1886, the government repurchased the railway for 1,200,000 gold pesos and then in 1877 sold to a British company that took the name of The Paraguay Central Railway Co., for which the line was renamed Ferrocarril Central del Paraguay (FCCP). The branch line to the Pirapó River was finished in 1891. In 1894 the works on the Sapucai railway workshops were completed. In 1909 the American Percival Farquhar acquired most of the railway’s shares.
To establish a link with the Ferrocarril Nordeste Argentino, the line from the Pirapó River to Encarnación was completed in 1913 using the same gauge used by the Argentine railway (1435 mm).
In 1914, the branch between San Salvador and Eugenio A. Garay was inaugurated, which in 1919 was extended to Abaí.
In 1951 the Paraguayan Government took over the railway with a financial loss of 12,244,440 guaraníes, so on December 31, 1959, the company ordered the cessation of the railway’s operations. In 1961, the Paraguayan State bought the railway for 200,000 pounds sterling. In 1990, the Argentine Government stopped the international train service.
When the Yacyretá dam was finished in 1998, the branch was cut in Encarnación, ending the connection with Argentina. In 1999 the railway stopped working. In 2000, it was renamed the line Ferrocarril Carlos Antonio López.
The tourist train between the Central Station and Areguá ended in 2009. After the route flooded by Yacyretá was restored, the Posadas-Encarnación Binational Train was inaugurated on December 31, 2014 between the Posadas halt and the Encarnación halt in Paraguay, on both sides of the San Roque González de Santa Cruz International Bridge .
Parque Nacional Ybyturuzu Tentative WHS (05/10/1993) is made up of a series of mountain ranges and is one of the main conservation areas in the eastern region of Paraguay and is home to both the highest peak in the country and the highest waterfall.
The Yvytyrusu mountain range is located 18 kilometers east of the city of Villarrica and 30 kilometers from Caazapá . It encloses a series of blue hills at whose feet several crystalline streams meander, the main one being the Takuara. The region was declared an area of managed resources. It is the habitat of rare animal and plant species. Among so many natural beauties, the Swiss Fall stands out , with its 50m drop, currently used for ecological and adventure tourism. It currently supports the antennas of large television networks at their peak.
It was a long drive here – 60 km there and back off Route 1 the main highway.
Yacyretá Island. In the NM M@P series, this is joined to Paraguqy by two big bridges crossing the Parana River with Argentina on the other side. It is flat and mostly pasture for cattle. Few people live n the island. That is what I thought when I drove the 50 km here, but in fact, the border with Argentina is in the middle of the island. I then returned to Highway 1 and drove to Encarnacion. A 100 km detour for 2 NM ticks!
ENCARNACION
Cathedral of the Incarnation. An all-white church. The highlight was a carved wood bas-relief of Maru and bambino.
Museo Prof. Alberto Delvalle. In the NM Military, War, and Police Museums series, this was a long way out in the country with 3 km of rough cobble and 1 km of muddy dirt.
The museum has a collection are carvings of Jesuit pieces, war items such as weapons, chains, uniforms and canteens, antique furniture, indigenous handicrafts from the Jesuit era, ancient musical instruments, paintings, sculptures and other everyday objects such as pots and scales. Many of these pieces are 200 years old. Among the most outstanding collections, you can see antiques rescued from the Chaco War and the War of the Triple Alliance. There was also a series of reproductions of ten Renaissance oil paintings by Bartolomé Martínez.
Professor Del Valle was a respected collector, poet, writer, museographer, intellectual and teacher that took him 25 years to collect. He was a primary school teacher at the Colegio San Blás de Colonia Obligado.
Santuario de la Virgen de Itucua, Itacua. On an out-of-the-way peninsula sticking into the river, this small modern church has lovely triangular windows.
San Roque González de Santa Cruz Bridge, Itapua. Spanning the gigantic Parana River from near Encarnacion to the Argentina side, it has 7 piers, then two huge triangular towers with cable spans and then many piers on the Argentinian side. It was not possible to cross or I would have been in Argentina.
I then started to drive to Trinidad and then torrential rain hit, so hard, that I could not drive. The entire inside of the car fogged up, I pulled into a gas station, hail started, and went undercover of the pumps. It was dark and the only food I could find in the station were Pringles and an ice cream bar. I put in hotels in Google Maps and drove to Trinidad. Staying at Hospidale de Maria (130,000PG or about $20). She also runs a restaurant and had her version of milenasia (breaded beef with fried eggs on top + French fries. The room is lovely with an ensuite, very clean. It is 100m from the WHS below.
Jesuit Missions of La Santísima Trinidad de Paraná and Jesús de Tavarangue World Heritage Sites
In addition to their artistic interest, these missions are a reminder of the Jesuits’ Christianization of the Río de la Plata basin in the 17th and 18th centuries, with the accompanying social and economic initiatives.
It is comprised of a series of 30 missions in the Río de la Plata basin established by the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) during the 17th and 18th centuries. Seven of these missions were located in Paraguay and the rest in the present-day countries of Argentina and Brazil. The mission complexes were attached to settlements and are evidence of a unique urban scheme. While each period had a singular style, all combined indigenous elements with Christian attributes and symbolism exhibiting Baroque, Romanesque and Greek influences, as part of an unprecedented process of acculturation.
The Jesuits arrived in the Guayrá in 1588. With the permission of King Philip II of Spain, the missionaries’ goal was to Christianize the indigenous population as well as to protect them from the colonial labour system of encomienda, a condition of virtual slavery. The inhabitants were brought together and encouraged to adopt a sedentary form of life and the Christian religion but unlike other missions in the New World, they were not forced to “Europeanize”. Many indigenous traditions were retained and encouraged such as the cultivation of yerba mate, which continues to be a representative regional product today.
The missions are located about 10 kilometres apart. Although today the missions are essentially archaeological ruins, their original layout followed, generally, a similar form with the church providing the basic unit, the urban core and the centre of spiritual life. Next to the church stood the residence of the Fathers, with the houses of the Caciques close by. The rest of the mission was composed of the yard, cloisters of workshops, garden, the Tupa Mbaé, cemetery, and jail. Adjacent to the church, there was a large square facing the four cardinal points, with crosses or statues and shrines in the four corners. Streets 16 or 18 meters in width radiated from the squares. The houses for the indigenous residents were arcaded blocks 60 meters square.
Mission of Santísima Trinidad del Paraná stands as the best-preserved urban complex. Although it was established in 1706, later than many of the reducción, it was also the most ambitious of the missions with a complex of buildings covering an area of about 8 hectares. The large stone church had a fine dome and impressive decoration. It was built around 1745 In addition to the main church, evidence survives of the small church, college or school, cloister, cemeteries, kitchen gardens, belfry, native houses, and workshops.
This was one block from my accommodation in Trinidad
Jesús de Tavarangue survives as an archaeological ruin dating to about 1588. It consisted of the church (which remained unfinished), the Major Square, the school attached to the church of which only one room survives, and houses for orphans and widows known as Coty Guazú or Great House. The mission also had an orchard for priests.
It is a combination of architectural styles. The Mudéjar (Christian-Arab) style is especially reflected with the use of the trefoil arch. There are no other architectural examples of this style, from the Jesuit era.
Monumento al Cooperativismo, Obligada. On an orange painted base, a tripod supports “pipe” globe sitting on a small yellow ball with a disc with two evergreen trees.
Things I didn’t see in this part of Paraguay.
Railway, Metro, Funiculars, Cable Cars: Tren del Lago
Archaeology and Anthropology Museums: Capiata: Museo Mitologico Ramon Elias
World of Nature
Caazapa NP (Ybycui NP)
San Rafael NP
Ybycui NP
Ypoá NP
Rivers
Manduvirá River
Paraguay River
Pilcomayo River
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PARAGUAY – NORTHEASTERN (Ciudad del Este, Concepción) April 11, 2022
Saltos del Monday. These are.a spectacular falls especially after the heavy rain in the last 18 hours. Muddy brown
$10 US.
CIUDAD DEL ESTE Spanish for Eastern City is the second-largest city in Paraguay and situated on the Paraná River 327 km from Asunción adjacent to the border with Brazil, to which it is connected by the Friendship Bridge. It is the largest city within the Triple Frontier region, which borders Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, and Puerto Iguazú, Argentina. The Itaipú Dam, one of the largest hydroelectric power plants in the world, and Iguazu Falls is near Ciudad del Este.
It is one of the largest free-trade zones in the world. Its tax-free status attracts many Brazilians and Argentines to the city.
This is not an attractive city with lots of traffic and narrow streets.
Catedral San Blas. A relatively modern church, it is triangular, with a wood pitched roof, stone walls, and lovely round stained glass windows, 5 to a side. Behind the altar is a tall nice stained glass windows.
Ciudad del Este Shopping. This market was one of the least attractive and smallest anywhere – a single corridor with shops on both sides.
Parking was bad mostly because of the hundreds of taxis parked everywhere.
HERNANDARIAS*
Itaipu Dam. In the NM Architectural Delights series, it is a hydroelectric dam on the Paraná River located on the border between Brazil and Paraguay. The construction of the dam was first contested by Argentina, but the negotiations and resolution of the dispute ended up setting the basis for Argentine–Brazilian integration later on.
In the Guarani language, Itaipu means “the sounding stone”. The Itaipu Dam’s hydroelectric power plant produced the second most electricity of any in the world as of 2020, only surpassed by the Three Gorges Dam plant in electricity production.
Completed in 1984, it is a binational undertaking run by Brazil and Paraguay at the border between the two countries, 15 km (9.3 mi) north of the Friendship Bridge. The project ranges from Foz do Iguaçu, in Brazil, and Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, in the south to Guaíra and Salto del Guairá in the north. The installed generation capacity of the plant is 14 GW, with 20 generating units providing 700 MW each with a hydraulic design head of 118 metres (387 ft). In 2016, the plant employed 3038 workers.
Of the twenty generator units currently installed, ten generate at 50 Hz for Paraguay and ten generate at 60 Hz for Brazil. Since the output capacity of the Paraguayan generators far exceeds the load in Paraguay, most of their production is exported directly to the Brazilian side, from where two 600 kV HVDC lines, each approximately 800 kilometres (500 mi) long, carry the majority of the energy to the São Paulo/Rio de Janeiro region where the terminal equipment converts the power to 60 Hz.
Itaipu in numbers; The total concrete volume used to build Itaipu would be enough to put up 210 soccer stadiums like Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro. :: The iron and steel used would allow the construction of 380 Eiffel Towers. :: The Itaipu spillway’s maximum discharge (62,200 cubic meters per second) is 40 times the average flow of the Iguaçu Falls. :: The discharge from two Itaipu turbines (approximately 700 cubic meters of water per second, each) is equivalent to the average discharge of the Iguaçu Falls (1,500 cubic meters per second). :: The height of the main dam (196 meters) is equivalent to that of a 65-story building. :: Brazil would have to burn 560,000 barrels of oil a day in oil-fired power plants to get the same amount of power generated by Itaipu. :: The volume of earth and rock excavations at Itaipu was 8.5 times greater than at the Eurotunnel (connecting France and England beneath the English Channel) and the volume of concrete used was 15 times greater.
The only way to see the dam is on a free 45- minute tour offered from a visitor’s center. Board a bus to a wide viewpoint of the entire dam. Then drive under the dam passing the 18 penstocks and then return on top of the dam. Only in Spanish.
The spillway is opened only 2-3 times per year after unusually high rainfall in the watershed.
The following were in a binational park and were both closed:
Zoológico De La Itaipu Binaciona
Museo de ITAIPU Tierra Guaraní
The drive from Ciudad del Este was a horrow show. It rained for the entire four hours often so torrentially that it was almost impossible to drive + lightning, night time, and a lot of slow driving. This was all compounded by long sections of two-lane traffic especially through towns and areas of construction. The lines were so old to be barely visible.
I decided to abandon my plan to drive to Paraguay West included below for completeness sake.
I returned to El Nomada Hostel for the night, left early in the am and returned the rental car to the airport. I then took the #30 Azul bus to the bus terminal and returned to Ciudad del Este and onward to Brazil.
I didn’t see any of the following.
Mbaracayú Forest Nature Reserve Tentative WHS (19/12/2003). Consisting of 64,405.7 hectares near the Brazilian border, it has small landholdings, cattle ranching, two indigenous communities and farms.
It has a humid subtropical forest part of the Interior Atlantic Forest. The annual average temperature is 21’C-22°C, and the total rainfall is 1,800 mm. The Mbaracaya Range runs northeast/southeast, crossing the northeastern corner of the Reserve. This area is composed of numerous small, but deep, valleys with recurrent waterfalls creating hundreds of small tributaries towards the Jejui River basin.
Forest covers almost 88% and the remainder consists of wetlands, pasture lands, lagoons, rivers, and Cerrado vegetation. The tall forest has more humidity with many tall canopy trees to 30-35 m with good quality lumber. The low forests vary from some far from the water while others are periodically or almost permanently flooded.
XL
Mbaracayu Reserve Area
Ponta Porã/Pedro Juan Caballero
Religious Temples: Concepcion: Catedral de Concepcion
World of Nature
Cerro Corá NP
Mbaracayú Forest Biosphere Reserve
Nacunday NP
Waterfalls
Guairá Falls
Caves and Sinkholes
San Lazaro: Santa Caverna de San Lazaro
Vallemi: Cavernas de Vallemi
Lakes: Laguna Blanca
Rivers: Apa River
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Paraguay – West – Chaco (Filadelfia, Villa Hayes, Fuerte Olimpio)
I decided early to to not go to Filadelfia as it is 500 km from Asuncion. But I had time in the morning of my last day in Paraquay and drove 16 km across the Paraguay River to the town of Ramansito and had breakfast, then returned. As a truly mimimal trip, I listed it that way on NM.
FILADELFIA* (pop 20,000) is about a 5-hour drive from Asunción.
Filadelfia was founded in 1930 by Russian Mennonites who fled from the Soviet Union. It became divided in the Second World War, with some of the original German colonists supporting Germany and later being expelled.
Filadelfia has developed into an important cattle herding settlement.
A museum displays the town’s Mennonite past (Russian overcoats), and wildlife, such as stuffed armadillos, anteaters, and toads. The colony’s villages lie around Filadelfia, as do several native reserves, home to much of the area’s native population, from the Chulupí, Lengua, Toba-Pilaga, Sanapaná and Ayoreo groups. Most of the town’s potable water supply is drawn from underground cisterns as the underground water is too salty to drink.
The highway, PY09, runs from Asunción 70 km past Filadelfia. From this point onwards, the road to the border town fort General Eugenio A. Garay with Bolivia is almost impassable.
Museo Memonita
Monument at the entrance of town
Museo Jakob Unger. In the NM Natural History and Earth Museums series,
Instead of the 1,700 km bus ride from Asuncion to Rio de Janeiro, I sensibly decided to fly (Latam CAD$555 via Sao Paulo). In Asuncion I either had to have an antigen test or past positive PCR to board the flight. At Brazil, despite the IATA advice that one needed a Covid antigen or PCR or a positive test (with 2 negative PCRs and a letter from a Dr stating recovery), all that was asked for was proof of vaccination. This is exactly the same as when I entered Brazil from French Guiana in January (one wastes a lot of money with all the conflicting advice).
I had decided to go to Rio to avoid Carnival that started on April 20. I thought that accommodation would be impossible to obtain and I am really not into the big party.
At Sao Paulo this entailed changing airports, from Guaduhos to Congonhas, a 35-km journey across Sao Paulo. The airport information guide said that Latam offered a free shuttle every hour leaving from Terminal 2 and 3 at Guaduhos. But it only existed every 6 hours and only from Terminal 2 (a 20-walk from terminal 3 where I arrived – exit the terminal and go to the bus station across the road). I got there at 21:45 with the next one at midnight.
I still had a Brazilian SIM card in my phone from my first stop and only needed a top up. After arriving at 07:30, I topped up my TIM card, visited an ATM and caught the Metro to my hostel (Discover Hostel $22/night).
Paraguayan Pantanal Tentative WHS. Designated as a Wetlands of International Importance, it lies at the transition between the Chaco, Pantanal, Amazonas and Atlantic Forest, has 22 migratory bird species and has charismatic mammals (Maned Wolf, Marsh Deer, Puma, Jaguar, Giant Otter, Giant Armadillo and the Giant Anteater most on the Red List of Threatened Species The area’s forests include species are the White Quebracho, Samu’û, and many cacti. The Red Quebracho, Yvyra Ita, Palo Blanco and Labón characterize the transition area between the Chaco and Pantanal. Historically, threats to biodiversity have been few, but recent cattle ranching activities have begun to create new pressures.
The Pantanal is a low altitude alluvial plan that is seasonally flooded and drained by the Paraguay River and its tributaries.
Río Negro National Park (RNNP) has been inhabited and used by the Yshir people Ybytoso and Tomaraho for fishing and harvesting of wild fruits and animals, in times of decline and downpipe from the Paraguay River.
The Yshir Ybytoso and Tomaraho have women using plants and seasonally flooded savannas
Río Negro National Park is located in the northeast corner of the Paraguayan Chaco on border with Bolivia and Brazil (Pantanal).
There are 10 plant communities, 801 species of flora, 92 fish in lakes and in the Paraguay and Negro River and its tributaries, 23 amphibians, 42 reptiles, 356 birds and 116 mammals, species unique for the whole country, as in the case of the large vertebrates and primates.
Parque National Tinfunque Tentative WHS (05/10/1993) protects the 241,320 hectare ecosystem of the humid Chaco as well as the historical sites of the Chaco War (1932 – 1935) between Paraguay and Bolivia. This refuge is important for the reproduction of wildlife.
M@P: Alto Paraguay Department
XL: Alto Paraguay province
World of Nature: Defensores del Chaco NP
Rivers: Pilcomayo River
Roads, Road Bridges and Tunnels: Road: Asuncion-Filadelfia-Bolivia border
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PARAGUAY GENERAL
Paraguay is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. It has a population of 7 million, nearly 3 million of whom live in the capital and largest city of Asunción, and its surrounding metro. Although one of only two landlocked countries in South America (Bolivia is the other), Paraguay has ports on the Paraguay and Paraná rivers that give exit to the Atlantic Ocean through the Paraná-Paraguay Waterway.
Spanish conquistadores arrived in 1524, and in 1537 established Asunción. During the 17th century, Paraguay was the center of Jesuit missions, where the native Guaraní people were converted to Christianity and introduced to European culture.[10] After the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spanish territories in 1767, Paraguay increasingly became a peripheral colony, with few urban centers and settlers. Following independence from Spain in the early 19th century, Paraguay was ruled by a series of authoritarian governments characterized by nationalist, isolationist and protectionist policies. This period ended with the disastrous Paraguayan War (1864–70), during which the country lost half its prewar population and around 25–33% of its territory to the Triple Alliance of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. In the 20th century, Paraguay faced another major international conflict—the Chaco War (1932–35) against Bolivia—in which it prevailed. Afterwards, the country came under a succession of military dictators, culminating in the 35-year regime of Alfredo Stroessner, which lasted until his overthrow in 1989 by an internal military coup. This marked the beginning of Paraguay’s democratic era, which continues to this day.
Paraguay is a developing country. The majority of Paraguay’s seven million people are mestizo, and Guarani culture remains widely influential; more than 90% of the population speak various dialects of the Guarani language alongside Spanish. Despite a history of poverty and political repression, in a 2017 Positive Experience Index based on global polling data, Paraguay ranked as the “world’s happiest place”.
Etymology. From Guarani paraguá “feather crown” and y “water” thus paraguaí “feather crown of waters”.
HISTORY
Pre-Columbian era. The indigenous Guaraní had been living in eastern Paraguay for at least a millennium before the arrival of the Spanish. They were not fully pacified until the late 19th century.
Colonization. The first Europeans were Spanish explorers in 1516 and Asunción was founded in 1537.
Jesuit missions in the eighteenth century brought Guarani populations together at Spanish missions to protect them from virtual slavery by Spanish settlers and Portuguese slave raiders, the Bandeirantes, in addition to seeking their conversion to Christianity. They flourished until expulsion of the Jesuits by the Spanish Crown in 1767. The ruins of two 18th-century Jesuit Missions of La Santísima Trinidad de Paraná and Jesús de Tavarangue have been designated as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.
Independence and rule of Francia. Paraguay overthrew the Spanish in 1811. New laws greatly reduced the powers of the Catholic church. Colonial citizens were forbid from marrying one another and allowed them to marry only blacks, mulattoes or natives in order to break the power of colonial-era elites and to create a mixed-race or mestizo society.
Rule of the López family. Carlos Antonio López came to power in 1841. López modernized Paraguay and opened it to foreign commerce. He signed a non-aggression pact with Argentina and officially declared independence of Paraguay in 1842. After López’s death in 1862, power was transferred to his eldest son, Francisco Solano López.
The regime of the López family was characterized by pervasive and rigid centralism in production and distribution. There was no distinction between the public and the private spheres, and the López family ruled the country as it would a large estate.
The government exerted control on all exports. The export of yerba mate and valuable wood products maintained the balance of trade between Paraguay and the outside world. The Paraguayan government was extremely protectionist, never accepted loans from abroad and levied high tariffs against imported foreign products. This protectionism made the society self-sufficient, and it also avoided the debt suffered by Argentina and Brazil. Slavery existed in Paraguay, although not in great numbers, until 1844, when it was legally abolished in the new constitution.
The ruling family had almost total control of all public life in the country, including church and colleges. In terms of socio-economic development, the country was dubbed as “the most advanced Republic in South America”.
López’s government was comparatively a good one for Paraguay: life and property was secure, crime almost unknown, and when committed, immediately detected and punished. The mass of the people was, perhaps, the happiest in existence. They had hardly to do any work to gain a livelihood. Each family had its house or hut in its own ground. They grew tobacco, maize and mandioca for their own consumption, oranges, a few cows and were almost throughout the year under little necessity
Paraguayan War (1864–1870) In 1864, Brazil (allied with the Argentinia) invaded Uruguay
The Paraguayans attacked Mato Grosso in 1864 and later declared war against Argentina on in 1865 and the Argentine Republic, the Empire of Brazil and the Republic of Uruguay signed the Secret Treaty of the Triple Alliance against the Paraguayan Government on.
The Paraguayans put up a ferocious resistance but ultimately lost in 1870.
Paraguay lost 25–33% of its territory to Argentina and Brazil, paid an enormous war debt, and sold large amounts of national properties to stabilize its internal budget. The worst consequence of the war was the catastrophic loss of population. At least 50% of the Paraguayans died during the conflict, numbers which took many decades for the country to return to. Of between 450,000 and 900,000, only 220,000 survived the war, of whom only 28,000 were adult males.
20th century. In 1904 the Liberal revolution against the rule of Colorados broke out. The Liberal rule started a period of great political instability. Between 1904 and 1954 Paraguay had thirty-one presidents, most of whom were removed from office by force.[37] Conflicts between the factions of the ruling Liberal party led to the Paraguayan Civil War of 1922.
The unresolved border conflict with Bolivia over the Chaco region finally erupted in the early 1930s in the Chaco War. After great losses Paraguay defeated Bolivia and established its sovereignty over most of the disputed Chaco region. Dissatisfaction resulted in the Paraguayan civil war of 1947. In its aftermath Alfredo Stroessner began involvement in a string of plots, which resulted in his military coup d’état of 4 May 1954.
Stroessner era, 1954–1989. Paraguay was modernized to some extent under Stroessner’s regime, although his rule was marked by extensive human rights abuses. Torture and death for political opponents was routine.
The splits in the Colorado Party in the 1980s, and the prevailing conditions – Stroessner’s advanced age, the character of the regime, the economic downturn, and international isolation – were catalysts for anti-regime demonstrations and statements by the opposition prior to the 1988 general elections.
Stroessner’s overthrow, post-1989. In 1989, Stroessner was overthrown in a military coup and, hundreds of the rural poor immediately occupied thousands of acres of unused territories belonging to Stroessner. The 1992 constitution established a democratic system and dramatically improved protection of fundamental human rights.
Election of Fernando Lugo in 2008 set its two major priorities as the reduction of corruption and economic inequality. He was Impeached in 2012 as a “politically motivated coup d’état”.
Present-day. President Mario Abdo enjoys a close relationship with the Brazilian far-right president since 2019, Jair Bolsonaro. In February 2019, President Mario Abdo Benitez was at Bolsonaro’s side when Bolsonaro praised Paraguayan military dictator Alfredo Stroessner, calling him “a man of vision.”
GEOGRAPHY
Paraguay is divided by the Río Paraguay into two well-differentiated geographic regions. The eastern region (Región Oriental); and the western region, officially called Western Paraguay (Región Occidental) and also known as the Chaco, which is part of the Gran Chaco. The country lies between latitudes 19° and 28°S, and longitudes 54° and 63°W.
The terrain consists mostly of grassy plains and wooded hills in the eastern region. To the west are mostly low, marshy plains.
Climate. The overall climate is tropical to subtropical with wet and dry periods. Winds play a major role in influencing Paraguay’s weather: October and March, warm winds blow from the Amazon Basin in the north and between May and August cold winds from the Andes.
The absence of mountain ranges to provide a natural barrier allows speeds as high as 161 km/h (100 mph). This also leads to significant changes in temperature within a short span of time; between April and September, temperatures will sometimes drop below freezing. January is the hottest summer month, with an average daily temperature of 28.9.
Rainfall varies dramatically with substantial rainfall in the east, and semi-arid conditions in the far west.
Politics. Paraguay has compulsory military service; all 18-year-old males are liable for one year of active duty.
ECONOMY
In 2010 and 2013, Paraguay experienced the greatest economic expansion of South America, with a GDP growth rate of 14.5% and 13.6% respectively.
Less than 10% of workers in Paraguay participated in the pension system. All of Paraguay’s electricity is generated by hydropower, making it one of the cleanest in the world. Paraguay has an installed electricity production capacity of 8,110 MW, producing 63 billion kWh/year in 2016; with domestic consumption of just 15 billion kWh, the excess production is sold to Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, making Paraguay the world’s largest exporter of electric power. This production is from two large hydroelectric power projects along its borders, including the Itaipu Dam, the world’s second-largest generating station.
Paraguay is the fifth-largest soybean producer in the world, the second-largest producer of stevia and the ninth-largest exporter of beef.
The market economy has by a large informal sector, featuring re-export of imported consumer goods to neighboring countries, as well as the activities of thousands of microenterprises and urban street vendors. Nonetheless, over the last 10 years the Paraguayan economy diversified dramatically, with the energy, auto parts and clothing industries leading the way.
Paraguay’s biggest cities are located along the Argentina-Paraguay border: Asunción, Encarnación, Pilar and Ciudad del Este, the latter being the third most important free commercial zone in the world, only trailing behind Miami and Hong Kong. A large percentage of the population, especially in rural areas, derives its living from agricultural activity, often on a subsistence basis.
Industry and manufacturing includes the production of cement, iron ore, and steel.
Paraguayan companies meet 70% of domestic consumption of drugs and have begun to export drugs.
SOCIAL ISSUES. Various poverty estimates suggest that 30–50% of the population is poor. In rural areas, 41.20% lack a monthly income to cover basic necessities, whereas in urban centers this figure is 27.6%. The top 10% of the population holds 43.8% of the national income, while the lowest 10% has 0.5%. The economic recession has worsened income inequality.
More recent data show that 35% of the Paraguayan population is poor, 19% of which live in extreme poverty. Moreover, 71% of the latter live in rural areas of the country.
10% of the population controls 66% of the land, while 30% of the rural people are landless. In the immediate aftermath of the 1989 overthrow of Stroessner, some 19,000 rural families occupied hundreds of thousands of acres of unused lands formerly held by the dictator and his associates by mid-1990, but many rural poor remained landless. This inequality has caused many tensions between the landless and landowners.
In the 2010s, the economy, largely directed towards soybean production, grew by an average of 4%. The economic growth did not, however, reduce poverty. According to The New York Times, Paraguay is “one of the countries in Latin America where the gap between rich and poor has widened the most in recent years.” In the countryside, 85% of agricultural land is owned by 2.6% of the owners. In addition, people of indigenous descent have been expelled to make way for soybean companies.
The soybean export market is largely dominated by multinationals (Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge Limited, etc.) and therefore benefits few Paraguayans. Export companies and landowners pay little tax. Paraguay is one of the countries where companies participate the least in the state budget.
Pesticides and other chemicals are used heavily in soybean fields. The high level of political corruption, the extreme fragility of institutions, the high level of social vulnerability, the omnipotence of economic interests in political decisions, as well as the location in the geographic heart and its abundance of natural resources, make Paraguay an attractive target for imperial geopolitical interests. The country’s politicians “are subsidized by big business; they are the ones who implement the policies.
Social issues of the indigenous. Literacy rates are 7.1% compared to the 51% rate of the general population. Only 2.5% had access to clean drinking water and only 9.5% had electricity as of 2002.
DEMOGRAPHICS
Paraguay’s population is distributed unevenly through the country, with the vast majority of people living in the eastern region near Asunción. The Gran Chaco region accounts for about 60% of the territory but has less than 2% of the population. About 56% of Paraguayans live in urban areas, making Paraguay one of the least urbanized nations in South America.
German Paraguayans include 25,000 German-speaking Mennonites living in the Paraguayan Chaco. They founded several towns, such as Hohenau, Filadelfia, Neuland, Obligado and Nueva Germania. Paraguay received waves of Slavic people. Paraguay has also been a haven for communities persecuted for the religious faith, like the Bruderhof who were forced to leave England in 1941 because of their pacifist beliefs. Many of these communities have retained their languages and culture, particularly the Brazilians, who represent the largest and most prominent immigrant group, at around 400,000. Many Brazilian Paraguayans are of German, Italian and Polish descent. There are an estimated 63,000 Afro-Paraguayans, comprising 1% of the population.
Traditionally, the majority of the Paraguayan population is considered mixed (mestizo in Spanish). Paraguay has a population of 6,956,066, of which 95% are Mestizo or white and 5% are labelled as “other”, which includes members of 17 distinct ethnolinguistic indigenous groups, many of which are poorly documented.
Religion. 89.9% Catholic, 6.2% Evangelical Protestant, 1.1% other Christian sects, and 0.6% practiced indigenous religions
Languages. Paraguay is a bilingual nation – Spanish and Guaraní are official languages. The Guaraní language is a remarkable trace of the indigenous Guaraní culture that has endured in Paraguay. Guaraní is one of the last surviving and thriving of South American indigenous national languages. In 2015, Spanish was spoken by about 87% of the population, while Guaraní is spoken by more than 90%, or slightly more than 5.8 million speakers. 52% of rural Paraguayans are bilingual in Guaraní.
Health. Average life expectancy in Paraguay is rather high given its poverty: as of 2006, it was 75 years. equivalent to far wealthier Argentina, and the eighth highest in the Americas according to World Health Organization.
CULTURE Paraguay’s cultural heritage can be traced to theextensive intermarriage between the original male Spanish settlers and indigenous Guaraní women with more than 93% mestizos, making Paraguay one of the most homogeneous countries in Latin America
Arts such as embroidery (ao po’í) and lace making (ñandutí). The music of Paraguay, which consists of lilting polkas, bouncy galopas, and languid guaranias is played on the native harp.
Food. Manioc, a local staple crop similar to the sopa paraguaya is a thick corn bread. chipa, a bagel-like bread made from cornmeal, manioc, and cheese. Many other dishes consist of cheeses, onions, bell peppers, cottage cheese, cornmeal, milk, seasonings, butter, eggs and fresh corn kernels.
Inside the family, conservative values predominate. In lower classes, godparents have a special relationship to the family, since usually, they are chosen because of their favorable social position, in order to provide extra security for the children. Particular respect is owed them, in return for which the family can expect protection and patronage.
