Paraguay - History and Demographics

The agricultural Guarani lived in eastern Paraguay and the nomadic Guaycuruan tribes lived in western Paraguay. Spanish explorers came in 1524 but the land was relatively unimportant to the Spanish due to its lack of minerals and being land-locked. Most of the Guarani (often called Indians in older documents) adopted the Roman Catholic religion of the Spaniards but continued to speak the Guarani language along with Spanish. In 1811, Paraguay declared its independence from Spain. The country’s history since then has been of authoritarian governments. The Paraguayan war with Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay caused massive population losses and loss of extensive territories. Currently the Economist Intelligence Unite rates Paraguay as a flawed democracy. This means elections take place but the citizens are cut off from decisions that are made because of the lack of civil liberties. There is wipespread fraud and corruption.

Bountiful Children in Paraguay

Bountiful Children started helping communities in Paraguay in 2014. 15% of the population live in poverty. 60 % of Indigenous populations live in extreme poverty. Inequality is widespread. The rural-urban economic gap is the result of large agriculture companies monopolizing the market. Underemployment is high and working conditions are poor.