French Guiana served as a French penal colony until 1953. Alberto Fujimori leads the mountainous nation of Peru. Fujimori is a descendant of Japanese immigrants. The violent Shining Path communist rebels have made many terrorist attacks in Peru. Lima is the capital of Peru.
Bolivia is located high in the Andes mountains.
American visitors to Bolivia often find it hard to breath due to the lack of oxygen at high altitude. La Paz is Bolivia s largest city. Paraguay is a poor , landlocked Andean nation. Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are the largest cities in Brazil , but the capital is the smaller city of Brasilia located deep in the highlands of central Brazil . Carnival is a four-day Brazilian festival that comes before Lent.