Ciudad del Este

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Ciudad del Este

Ciudad del Este, a city of 223,350 inhabitants (2002), is the capital of the department of Alto Paraná in Paraguay. Located in a corner of the country bordering on Paraguay, the Argentine province of Misiones, and the Brazilian state of Paraná, the city, originally Puerto Aguirre, turned into an important hub during the construction of the Itaipú Dam (1970–1984) and its hydroelectric complexes. Named Puerto Stroessner in those years, after the Paraguayan dictator General Alberto Stroessner, it became the second-largest urban center of Paraguay, after Asunción, by incorporating neighboring towns such as Hernandarias (64,074) and Puerto Presidente Franco (54,400).

The location of Ciudad del Este on the international route that connects southeastern Bolivia with Curitiba and Porto Alegre has contributed to turning this city into a smuggling post between Paraguay and Brazil and of cocaine between southern Bolivia and the large cities of São Paulo, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, and Florianapolis. Because of this negative reputation, many Argentine and Brazilian tourists visiting Lake Itaipú and the Iguazú Falls, both on the Paraná River, avoid Ciudad del Este.

See alsoParaguay: The Twentieth Century; Paraguay, Geography; Paraná River; Stroessner, Alfredo.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lewis, Daniel K. A South American Frontier: The Tri-Border Region. New York: Chelsea House, 2006.

Ynstrand, Edgard L. Un giro geopolítico: El milagro de una ciudad. Asunción: Instituto Paraguayo de Estudios Geopolíticos e Internacionales, 1990.

                                         CÉsar N. Caviedes