Paraguay: The cannabis breadbasket of the Southern Cone

Paraguay is the principal producer of cannabis in South America. Despite its importance as a supplier of cannabis in South America, there has been a surprising absence of serious studies of its impact on its own society, and on the play of offer and demand in neighbouring countries.

The history of Paraguay in the import/export and processing of illicit drugs, together with the growing and exportation of cannabis, goes back to the late 1960s, when cannabis growing became established in the department of Amambay, around the town of Pedro Juan Caballero, on the northeastern frontier with Brazil. At the same time venal and cash-hungry central authorities discovered that this trade allowed them to finance a corrupt local political structure, heavily dependent on illegal cash flows and closely tied to the pre-existing caudillo system.

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The chain of drug trafficking has evolved considerably from the amateurish structures of the 1960s, and has taken root within the state. The real question is what will happen next. Will Paraguay continue increasing the violence on its civilian population and with it the number of murders and forced disappearances? The most optimistic scenario is that a discussion about some form of legal regulation will move the debate forward, for without this, the prevailing structures of poverty and inequality will only continue to feed into present levels of corruption, money laundering and illicit trafficking.

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