"downtown Paraguay" ©2001 Elroy Christenson
Just across the river from Foz do Iguaçu, the town, in southern
Brazil lies this small bordertown Ciudad del Este of Paraguay. This is not
really an ideal spot for tourists. It's a hub of a number of illegal activities
which include smuggling cigarettes, selling stolen cars or chopping them into
resellable parts and, of course, dealing drugs. In front of many shops are
armed guards with sawed off shot guns, machine guns, or other heavy fire power.
I could buy virtually any gun at a street vendor's stand. It has quite
a wild west feel and we were always looking for the speeding car and awaiting
the sound of passing bullets. You can buy anything here, and very cheap,
- cheap CD's, leather goods, imported perfume as well as imported and indigenous
clothing. This makes it a real destination for the Brazilians and Argentinians.
