Paraguay - A Short History Lesson

By the early 1520's the Spanish reached the Rio Paraguay in the quest for El Dorado and went on to cross the country. They settled later, founding Asuncion in 1537. In the early 1600's the Jesuits established their famous missions where Paraguay borders Brazil and Argentina. These fell into ruin following the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767.

After independence in 1811 the country suffered under the rule of various dictators including Francisco Solano Lopez who modelled himself on Napoleon (His wife was an Irishwoman, Eliza Lynch, who became known as the Empress of South America). He led Paraguay into the disasterous war of the 1870's against Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay (the War of the Triple Alliance). Some 180,000 inhabitants (nearly half the population) were killed and only 28,000 men survived. In the peace treaty that followed Paraguay lost territory to both Brazil and Argentina and Paraguay went from being the richest country in South America to one of the poorest. The country has still not recovered from the legacy of this war.

In recent times the country has emerged from 34 years dictatorship under General Strossner (deposed by his own son-in-law in 1989) and democracy has been restored.

Last Updated: Tuesday May 13 2008