Paraguay is the most unknown, and most caricatured, country in South America. Landlocked between Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia, without a coastline, without a Machu Picchu or a Caribbean beach to sell, it suffers media treatment that oscillates between ignorance and lazy cliché. This article puts 32 of these preconceived ideas through the sieve: figures, sources, field anecdotes, and some surprises that not even Paraguayans always know. At the end, either you revise your certainties, or you book a ticket.
"Paraguay is dangerous"
This is THE number one cliché. And it is false, at least compared to the rest of Latin America.
The reputation for danger comes from two things: the eastern border (Ciudad del Este / Pedro Juan Caballero) where drug trafficking operates (but among themselves, not against tourists), and lumping it together with Brazilian favelas by people who never set foot in Paraguay. The tourist who follows classic itineraries is no more exposed than in Barcelona.
"There is nothing to see in Paraguay"
This is the phrase every traveler who announces 'I am going to Paraguay' hears. And it is the easiest cliché to debunk.
- 12 UNESCO sites: the Jesuit missions of Trinidad and Jesus de Tavarangue (inscribed in 1993), which have nothing to envy to the Bolivian or Argentine reductions, with the advantage of being visitable without crowds.
- 25 major national parks: Defensores del Chaco (720,000 ha, the largest park in Paraguay, one of the highest jaguar densities on the continent), Cerro Cora (history + nature), Ybycui, Nacunday (40 m waterfall), Teniente Enciso.
- 3The Paraguayan Chaco: 60% of the territory, a density of 1 inhabitant/km2, fauna including jaguars, pumas, tapirs, giant armadillos and more than 700 bird species. Photographic safaris are a nascent industry there.
- 4Asuncion: a capital of 2.5M inhabitants with a historic center undergoing full renovation, contemporary art galleries, and a nightlife that has nothing to envy to Montevideo.
- 5Waterfalls: Monday Falls (80 m high, 10 min from Ciudad del Este), Salto Cristal (45 m, turquoise water), Salto Suizo, Salto Tembey. They are not Iguazu Falls, but no one hides them from you.
- 6The Encarnacion Carnival: the largest in Paraguay, 40,000 spectators per night in February, more modest floats than in Rio but a 100% local atmosphere.
"It is a poor, underdeveloped country"
Poverty exists (19% of the population below the national poverty line in 2024, compared to 35% in 2010). But reducing Paraguay to only that lens is to miss a surprising economic story, even by Southern Cone standards.
Paraguay's economy is atypical: solid agricultural base, massive energy surplus, attractive taxation (10% corporate tax, 10% VAT, no wealth tax), stable banking sector. It is the country that best absorbed the inflationary shocks of 2022-2023 in all of Latin America. The growth is there. What is missing is redistribution.
"Everyone speaks Spanish in Paraguay"
False. Paraguay is the only country in the Americas where an indigenous language is spoken by a majority of the population, across all social classes.
For a visitor, knowing how to say Mba'eichapa (hello) and Aguyje (thank you) completely changes the reception you receive. It is a marker of respect stronger than Spanish.
"Asuncion is ugly and scary"
This cliché persists among hurried travelers who spend 24h between the airport and the bus terminal. The Asuncion of 2026 is no longer the declining city of the 1990s.
- 1The historic center (CHACO): renovation plan launched in 2022, 140M USD public-private investment, restored facades on Palma Street, night lighting of the Pantheon and the Cabildo, partial pedestrianization in 2025.
- 2The Costanera: 15 km promenade along the Paraguay River, bike lanes, food trucks, free concerts on weekends. Inaugurated in 2019, expanded in 2024.
- 3Gastronomy: 4 restaurants ranked among the 50 best in Latin America in 2025 (Tierra Colorada, Mburicao, Pakuri, Lo de Osvaldo). Specialty coffee scene in full expansion.
- 4Contemporary art: Museo del Barro (one of the most important indigenous and mixed-race art collections in Latin America), Cultural Center of the Republic, independent galleries around Villa Morra.
- 5Nightlife: Paseo Carmelitas (bars and terraces), Paseo La Galeria (premium open-air shopping center), live music in the bars of Las Mercedes.
"Tercere is Argentine mate but cold"
That is like saying champagne is crémant with bubbles. Tercere has been inscribed on UNESCO's intangible heritage list since 2020, and it is a complete social ritual, not a drink.
- 1The yerba is different: ground finer than Argentine mate, adapted to cold water. Paraguayan brands (Kurupi, Pajarito, Selecta) dominate the market.
- 2The water contains herbs (remedios): fresh medicinal plants are steeped in it (minta'i, lemon verbena, burrito, koku). Each combination has a virtue: digestive, relaxing, energizing. A Paraguayan who prepares you a tercere first asks 'what remedios do you want?', not 'do you want sugar?'.
- 3It is a hierarchical ritual: the cebador (the server) drinks first, always. Refusing a tercere that is offered is rude. The guampa (horn/gourd) goes around in a precise order.
- 4Water temperature: never ice-cold. The water is kept in a termolar (wide-mouth thermos) at cool temperature, 10-15C. No ice in the guampa.
"Paraguay is the dictatorship and corruption"
Paraguay had the longest dictatorship in South America (Alfredo Stroessner, 1954-1989, 35 years). But this cliché freezes the country in 1989, as if Germany were still the Third Reich.
Corruption exists (Transparency International ranks Paraguay 136th/180 in 2024). But electoral democracy is solid: no coups since 1989, no major constitutional crisis, a press that investigates (ABC Color, Ultima Hora). The country is far from Scandinavia, and far from Venezuela too.
"Paraguayan gastronomy is just grilled meat"
Paraguay has a distinctive cuisine, predating the arrival of the Spanish, and which has almost nothing to do with the Argentine steak and fries or Mexican tacos.
- 1Chipa: small cheese bread made from manioc starch and Paraguay cheese. More than 70 regional varieties: chipa so'o (stuffed with meat), chipa guazu (corn bread version), chipa mestiza (manioc + corn mix), chipa piru (crunchy version).
- 2Sopa paraguaya: it is not a soup but a savory corn, cheese and onion cake. Served as a side to asado. Legend says Don Carlos Antonio Lopez asked his cook for a 'sopa', who got the recipe wrong. The dictator liked the result so much he made it the national dish.
- 3Mbeju: crunchy manioc starch biscuit, the quintessential Paraguayan breakfast. Eaten with cheese or dulce de leche.
- 4Pira caldo: fish soup from the Paraguay River. Variants include surubi, dorado, pacu. Each region has its version.
- 5Vori vori: corn flour dumplings in chicken broth. The national comfort food.
- 6Kosereva: dessert made from lemon, sugar and candied orange peel. Refreshing and unknown outside the country.
- 7Manioc: served at every meal, grilled, fried or boiled. Paraguay is the 5th world producer. A Paraguayan consumes an average of 25 kg of manioc per year.
"Paraguay is Brazil or Argentina, but worse"
This is the cliché of the jaded traveler. The reality: Paraguay does not try to be Brazil or Argentina. It is a different country in its own structure.
The cliché of the 'buffer country between Brazil and Argentina' is a geographic traveler bias. Paraguay has its own war history (War of the Triple Alliance, 1864-1870, which killed 60-70% of the adult male population), its own immigration (German Mennonites in the Chaco, Japanese in Itapua department, Italians in Asuncion), and its own political trajectory.
"There is no Internet / it is a tech desert"
Paraguay made a technological leap that no one saw coming.
"Paraguayans are cold / distant"
It is quite the opposite. But Paraguayan warmth does not resemble Brazilian extroversion or Argentine familiarity.
This reserve has historical explanations: 35 years of dictatorship created a culture of caution. The War of the Triple Alliance left a collective trauma of distrust toward foreigners (Brazil and Argentina annexed 140,000 km2 of Paraguay after the war). Paraguayan warmth is a slow conquest, not a sprint.
"No one is interested in Paraguay"
The numbers tell another story: that of a country rising, slowly but surely, onto the radar of travelers and investors.
Interest in Paraguay follows a classic 'emerging destination' curve: first backpackers (2018-2022), then digital nomads (2023-2025), then investors and retirees (2025-2026). Nomad List ranks Asuncion among the top 20 cities in the world for remote workers in 2026.
"Paraguayan women are submissive / invisible"
A colonial cliché that ignores Paraguay's social reality and history.
- 1The 'Residentas': during the War of the Triple Alliance (1864-1870), with 70% of the adult male population dead, it was women who rebuilt the country. They cultivated, traded, raised children. Post-war Paraguayan society was matriarchal by necessity.
- 2Today: 52% of university students are women. The female activity rate went from 54% (2010) to 62% (2024).
- 3Major political figures: Nidia Sanabria (deputy minister), Soledad Nunez (former housing minister, anti-corruption figure), Lea Gimenez (former finance minister, first woman in that role).
- 4In rural areas, women often manage agricultural cooperatives. In the Chaco, Mennonite colonies are structured around women who handle accounting and trade.
Warning: this picture is not idyllic. Femicides (0.8 per 100,000 women in 2024) and wage inequalities persist. But Paraguay does not have a culture of 'ostentatious machismo' like that found in certain regions of Mexico or Central America. The Paraguayan woman is socially powerful, and that power is historical.
"It is a country of smuggling and money laundering"
Ciudad del Este, the 'smuggling capital', was long Paraguay's media face. In 2026, this cliché is outdated.
"It is 45C all year round"
Paraguay has a subtropical climate with distinct seasons. Yes, summer is hot. But no, it is not a permanent oven.
The Chaco is more extreme: 45C in summer, 0C in winter at night. The east (Encarnacion, Ciudad del Este) is milder thanks to altitude and forest cover. The country has three distinct climates depending on the region.
"Wildlife does not exist / there is no nature"
Paraguay shelters one of the last great wild spaces in South America: the Gran Chaco, the continent's second biome after the Amazon.
- 1Jaguar (yaguarete): estimated population between 500 and 800 individuals in the Chaco. Defensores del Chaco park has one of the highest densities in the world.
- 2Tapir (mborevi): 3 species present. Observable in the northern national parks.
- 3More than 700 bird species: including the hyacinth macaw, the American jabiru, the rhea. Paraguay is a paradise for ornithology.
- 4Upper Parana Atlantic Forest (BAAPA): remaining fragment of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, a global biodiversity hotspot. About 13% of original cover remains, protected in the Mbaracayu and San Rafael reserves.
- 5Paraguayan Pantanal: wetland shared with Brazil and Bolivia. Caimans, capybaras, giant otters, and the highest concentration of jaguars per km2 on the planet. The Paraguayan portion is virtually untouched by tourism.
"Paraguay is isolated, disconnected from the world"
The country is geographically landlocked, but not isolated. It borders Brazil (1,365 km), Argentina (1,880 km) and Bolivia (750 km).
Paraguay's central position was once a strategic disadvantage. In 2026 it is an asset: it is the only Mercosur country bordering all other members. The 'logistics hub of the Southern Cone', as investors call it.
"Guarani is a folkloric / dead language"
Guarani is a living language spoken by more than 5 million speakers, with a complex grammar, contemporary literature and an official academy.
- 1The ATENEO of Guarani Language and Culture (founded in 1985) publishes dictionaries, grammars and official neologisms to allow Guarani to name the modern world without resorting to Spanish.
- 2Contemporary Guarani literature: Susy Delgado, Feliciano Acosta, Mario Ruben Alvarez write and publish in Guarani. The national literature prize has had a Guarani category since 1995.
- 3The 1992 Constitution was drafted and debated in Guarani and Spanish. Official acts are bilingual.
- 4Guarani on Wikipedia: more than 5,500 articles in Guarani in 2026. Small, but growing.
- 5Spotify / YouTube: hundreds of artists produce in Guarani. Search for Tierra Adentro, Flaminio Arzamendia, Francisco Russo.
Last updated:
Sources
- World Bank: Development Indicators (Paraguay, 2024) (2024)
- IMF: Article IV Consultation Paraguay (2024) (2024)
- SENATUR: Tourism Statistics (2025) (2025)
- CONATEL: Mobile Internet Coverage (2025) (2025)
- Latinobarometro: 2024 Report (2024)
- UNESCO: Tercere inscribed on intangible heritage (2020) (2020)
- Transparency International: Corruption Perceptions Index (2024) (2024)
- Insight Crime: Homicide Report (2024) (2024)
- FATF: Paraguay removal from gray list (2023) (2023)
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