Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1961-10-25

passes into a strange world
which is part of the past for
most of South America.
This tiny country, wedged
inland between Brazil and
This is the eleventh in O series Of
articles bosed on q 1890 mile
swing through Lotin America.
~~%-----~-~-~-~-~
Argentina, lies outside the main
swirl Of Latin development.
Winds of change buffeting the
rest of the continent pass al
mos unnoticed.
Paraguay today is probably
the most needy - yet least
qualified - member of the new
intef-American Alliance for
Progress.
The country is still in the
grips of an old-fashioned mill
tam dictatorship - the last of
itSe kind in South America.
From the moment the visitor
ARRIVES in ASuncion, the capital.
he finds the benign face of
Gen Alfredo StroesSner - who
sei1ed power in May 1854 -
shining down from countless
piethres.
Army Shares Budget
The military leaders support
ing him have their fingers in
everything. They receive a fat
SO per cent slice of the national
budget. They run bakeries and
brick factories. They control"
customs collections.
Cattle rustling is another
favorite occupation. Meat is
the staple in this agricultural
country (the size of California;.
Despite advice from United
States technicians on produc-
ton, however, the number of
cattle actually has fallen since
ls41.
Ranchers refuse to expand
their herds and are running to
the cities to escape the law
and order" the army maintains
in the countryside.
Paraguay has no basic in
duStry. and little industry of
any kind outside of meat-pack-
ing-mainly in corned beef.
Smuggling to Argentina has
been a booming business in
the past. Paraguay has lower
import duties than any of its
neighbors, and only the Para
guayan River separates it from
Argentina.
Pride in Country
Despite this lawlessneSs,
Paraguayans have a kind of
primitive pride in their land
locked country. Their fierce
stubbornness toward the out
side world has reinforced nat
ura1 isolation and led to a
series of savage wars. These
have periodically denuded the
country Of manpower.
For 10 per cent of the IT
million inhabitants, the melod-
ious Indian dialect of native
Guarani still completes with
Spanish as the spoken Ian
guage. In wide areas outside
the capital Guarani is the only
language among illiterate In
dams.
The country has an esti-
mated 100 miles of paved roads
outside the capital. A guide
book warns English-speaking
tourists who want to visit
natural wonders hidden away
in the interior:
The experienced traveller
carries an emergency store of
food, drinking water, blanket,
hand towel, soap, insect repel-
lent and flashlight." Motorists
should always inquire whether
four-wheel drive is necessary,
it says, even in dry weather."
But remember. wet roads
may be impossible for any car
but a jeep."
First City Water System
Matters are slightly better in
Asuncion. Flowering tropical
shrubbery compliments rustic
surroundings. Two years ago
the Stroessner government in
stalled the first municipal
water system the country has
known.
New docks and a port build
ing have just been finished on
the Paraguayan River. They
serve the enlarged fleet of
river boats sailing down to
Buenos Aires on the River Plate.
Argentina has taken up to 80
per cent of Paraguayan exports
each year.
But in Asuncion the streets
are still a mass of oblong cob
bic stones more suited to OK
cartS than automobiles. There
are no traffic lights. Accom-