Friday 8 February 2008
Ryan and I visited the town's history museum today, a small house with some memorabilia from the Chaco War. I am not going to explain the Chaco war here, partly because it would take too long, and partly because I only know basic facts myself and would not be a competent teacher. Suffice it to say that in the 1930's Bolivian and Paraguay went to war over a patch of desert (supposedly over oil, but there is no oil there at all. Probably mainly over national pride.) Hundreds of thousands of soldiers marched into the desert, fought a brutal war, and mostly died of thirst. There was no clear winner in the end (unless of course you talk to either Paraguay or Bolivia, who will both tell you that they won) so they signed an agreement and everybody that was left went home. Paraguay did gain a little more desert, but to date there isn't even a paved road all the way through it.
The best part of the museum were the pre-war propoganda, portraying Bolivia as a vulture and Paraguay as a lion, etc., etc.
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