The Chaco War of South America

Bolivia and Paraguay are both landlocked neighbors in South America. Neither have had the luxury of strong economies. Between 1932 and 1935, the two countries fought the bloodiest conflict on the continent in the 20th century. At dispute, was a region known as “Gran Chaco” which was incorrectly believed to contain substantial oil deposits. Control…

The Persistence of Paraguayan Guaraní

Like many South American countries, Paraguayans have held onto their indigenous language despite modernization in areas such as television, telecommunications, or the internet. An estimated half of the rural population is monolingual, and the majority of the population in Paraguay speaks Guaraní (it is also spoken in parts of Bolivia, Argentina, and Brazil). The tenacious hold of the language in what is…