Paraguay
RELATIONS WITH PARAGUAY
The United States and Paraguay have an extensive relationship at the government, business, and personal level. The U.S. Government has assisted Paraguayan development since 1937. Although U.S. imports from Paraguay are only about $40 million per year, U.S. exports to Paraguay approach $1 billion per year, according to U.S. Customs data. More than a dozen U.S. multi-national firms have subsidiaries in Paraguay. These include firms in the computer, manufacturing, agra-industrial, banking, and other service industries. Some 75 U.S. businesses have agents or representatives in Paraguay, and over 3,000 U.S. citizens reside there.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided more than $5 million in assistance per year for Fiscal Years 1997 and 1998 and anticipates a similar level in Fiscal Year 1999. The U.S. Department of Defense provides technical assistance and training to help modernize, professionalize, and democratize the military. The Peace Corps has about 170 volunteers working throughout Paraguay on projects ranging from agriculture and natural resources to education, rural health, and urban youth development. The U.S. Information Service (USIS) is also active in Paraguay, providing information on the United States to the press and public, as well as helping arrange educational and citizen exchanges to promote democracy.
Relations between the United States and Paraguay are not always smooth. In the late 1970s, the relationship between the United States and Paraguay faltered as a result of human rights abuses and the absence of political reform. Foreign relations were also adversely affected by the involvement of some members of Stroessner's government in narcotics trafficking. A U.S. State Department report in 1996 identified Paraguay as a regional distribution and assembly center for counterfeit merchandise. The re-export trade to Brazil, catering to consumer demand for such items as electronics, audio tapes and compact discs, designer clothing and footwear had encouraged widespread piracy. In November 1998, U.S. and Paraguayan officials signed a memorandum of understanding on steps to improve protection of intellectual property rights in Paraguay. Also in 1998, a Paraguayan national was executed by the State of Virginia. The Government of the United States conveyed its apologies to the Government and people of Paraguay because the execution violated the Vienna Convention. The Paraguayan national was not told of his right to request consular assistance.
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Individual and Group Contributions
Paraguayan Americans have not made significant contributions to American popular culture, or to the arts and sciences. Much of Paraguayan literature is historical or legal writing. Still, Paraguay has always attracted the attention of other cultural giants. For example, Voltaire mentions Paraguay in Candide, and English writers Thomas Carlyle and Richard Burton mention the isolationist policies of the country in the 19th century. America's own political humorist P. J. O'Rourke wrote that, "Paraguay is nowhere and famous for nothing," but then visited the country to cover elections, and fell in love with the country and its people.
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INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER ETHNIC GROUPS
As a culture, Paraguayans have accepted other ethnic groups with minimal conflict. The majority of Paraguayans are mestizos and the population is the most homogeneous of the countries of South America. Small numbers of Europeans, including German Mennonites and Italians, immigrated to Paraguay in the nineteenth century. In the early twentieth century, Asian and Middle Eastern people also immigrated to Paraguay. Of the 5.2 million Paraguayans today, about 8000 are Japanese or of Japanese descent.
Minorities became a significant presence during the 1970s and 1980s when thousands of Koreans and ethnic Chinese settled in urban Paraguay.
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Paraguayan Embassy.
Paraguay maintains an embassy in the United States. Consulates are in Miami, New York, New Orleans, Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles.
Address: 2400 Massachusetts Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008.
Telephone: (202) 483-6960.
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Partners of the Americas: Kansas and Paraguay.
Non-profit, volunteer organization with headquarters in Washington DC. The state of Kansas and Paraguay are partnered. Program has developed exchanges in areas such as agriculture, citizen participation, cultural arts, international trade, emergency preparedness, health, natural resources, university, linkage, and women in development and youth.
Address: 1424 K Street N.W., #700, Washington D.C. 20005.
Telephone: (202) 628-3300, (800)322-7844.
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