Geology and Mineral Resources of Paraguay A Reconnaissance

GEOGRAPHY 9thorny semidesert plants that are adapted to alternationsof severe droughts and prolonged wet seasonswhen almost all of the surface of the Gran Chaco isswampy or actually covered by water. Scatteredthrough the brush forests are various hardwoods; alongtheir edges are groves of black palm (carandai), somemany square kilometers in extent (fig. 2).TRANSPORTATIONParaguay is severely handicapped in its developmentand in international commerce by its inland location,which necessitates travel through neighboring countriesfor access to ocean transport. Its international commercedepends largely on facilities that are owned andcontrolled by foreign governments or corporations.Even so, the international transportation situation isbetter than the domestic one.Within the country, all the usual forms of transportationwater, rail, air, and road are represented butall are inadequate for the present needs of the countryand will, unless improved greatly, hinder its developmentin future.By far the greater part of the country's internationaltrade, and a considerable part of its internal trade, iscarried by water. Between 1941 and 1950, more than87 percent of total exports were moved by river, nearlyall of the remainder going on the one international railroadthat links Paraguay with Buenos Aires. Truckshipments to and from Brazil and Argentina are negligible,but substantial contraband movements of cattleon the hoof are generally believed to take place regularly.The Paraguay-Parana river system, comparable inmost respects to the Mississippi, is the main avenue ofcommerce. Its channel accommodates ships with9-foot draft during periods of normal flow, but this isdecreased to 7-foot draft during low water. The AltoParana, the only other stream that can be used forregular navigation, is shallower than the Paraguay andrequires smaller craft. Asuncion, Conception, Villeta,Pilar, and Encarnacion are the main ports. Of these,only Asuncion has modern port facilities; even here logsmust be floated out to waiting ships and lifted from thewater by cranes or made up into rafts.More than 200 vessels, most of them old wood-firedships and barges originally designed for ocean travel,and of Argentine registry, serve the country's inter­national transport needs. Most of them connectAsuncion with Buenos Aires, 1,600 river kilometers tothe south, but a few move 1,100 kilometers up-river toCorumba, Brazil.Shipping rates for the trip from Asuncion to BuenosAires range from 4 percent of the f. o. b. value of somemeat products to 86 percent of that for some timberproducts. A surcharge of 50 percent is commonlyadded during periods of low water, which sometimeslast more than 6 months.In addition to the international commerce describedabove, there is a large internal water traffic. Most ofthis is limited to the many ports along the Paraguayand Alto Parana rivers, but there is some movementof goods on the smaller tributary rivers.A British-owned standard-gage railroad connectsAsuncion, Villarrica, Encarnacion, and many smallertowns along its route with Buenos Aires. It providesregular freight and passenger service but outwornwood-burning equipment and poorly maintained trackagecause delays at times. A number of other railroadsare shown on plate 1. All are privately owned narrowgagelines, used principally for moving of forestproducts.Several foreign airlines provide regular passenger,mail, and freight service between Asuncion and Riode Janeiro, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Santiago, LaPaz, and Lima. All but Lima are only 4 to 5 hours'flight time from Asuncion. One Argentine company useshydroplanes that operate from the Asuncion harbor;all the other companies use the national airport, whichhas a single, asphalt-paved runway on the outskirts ofAsuncion. Aside from, a few privately owned planes,all internal air transportation is by a governmentcontrolledcompany, which uses small 1 to 3 passengeraircraft and Paraguayan Air Force pilots. Most of thetowns, as well as many private ranches, have earth orgrass landing strips. Any of these can be reachedwithin about 3 hours' flying time from Asuncion,though there are likely to be many delays, due toweather and other factors, in obtaining passage.Moreover, many of the landing strips are likely to beunserviceable during parts of every year because ofrain, mud, or overflow from nearby streams.Within the country, most travel and transport ofgoods are by roads and cart tracks. At the end of1951 there were about 5,000 automotive vehicles inthe country; nearly four-fifths of them were registeredin the capital city. Of the total, about half werepassenger automobiles and half were trucks or buses.Horses with light wagons are used extensively in afew of the colonies settled by Europeans, but the greatbulk of overland transportation throughout the countryis done by oxen. In 1943 there were 27,000 carretastwo-wheeled heavy carts drawn by one to six oxen inuse by farmers alone, plus an unknown but largeadditional number in the forest industries.The principal road net is shown on plate 1. Asidefrom some of the streets in Asuncion and a few blocksin Encarnacion and Villarrica, the only paved, allweatherhighway in the country extends eastward from