Enclaves of inequality: Brasiguaios and the transformation of the Brazil-Paraguay borderlands

Abstract

This contribution traces the history of Brazilian immigration to Paraguay and the emergence of ‘Brasiguaio’ communities, arguing that the enclaves are products of the development policies of each country's military dictatorship. Although Brasiguaios are currently associated with wealthy Brazilian agriculturalists in Paraguay, the majority of these immigrants have been poor workers who face constant marginalization from state bureaucracies and unequal access to land. Paraguay's eastern border region is among the most complex spaces in Latin America of cultural, economic and national hybridity. The transformation of this borderland is predicated on a highly unequal social hierarchy that resulted largely from the evolution of Brasiguaio immigration.