Ciudad del Este

Ciudad del Este is a city in eastern Paraguay on the Paraná River, across from Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. It is a major commercial center near the borders of Brazil and Argentina.

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Friendship Bridge: A bridge across the Paraná River linking Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, with Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. It carries the city’s principal road connection to Brazil and much of its cross-border traffic.
Augusto Roa Bastos: A Paraguayan novelist, poet, and journalist whose works include the novel I, the Supreme. The city was named Puerto Presidente Stroessner during the dictatorship Roa Bastos opposed in exile.
Foz do Iguaçu: A Brazilian city in Paraná state, across the Paraná River from Ciudad del Este. The two cities form a densely connected cross-border urban pair.
Triple Frontier: The border region where Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay meet near the Paraná and Iguazú rivers. Ciudad del Este is the Paraguayan anchor of this prominent tri-border zone.
Ciudad del Este Free Trade Zone: A commercial area in Ciudad del Este known for importing and selling goods to regional and international buyers. Duty-free commerce helped make the city a major shopping destination.
Alfredo Stroessner: A Paraguayan military ruler who governed the country from 1954 until 1989. The city was founded under his rule and originally bore his name.
Puerto Iguazú: An Argentine city in Misiones Province near the junction of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. It completes the tri-border urban region with Ciudad del Este and Foz do Iguaçu.
Smuggling: The illegal movement of goods across borders to evade laws, duties, or restrictions. High-volume trade and multiple nearby borders have made smuggling a persistent regional issue.
Itaipu Dam: A binational hydroelectric dam on the Paraná River jointly operated by Paraguay and Brazil. Construction of the dam drove Ciudad del Este’s rapid growth in the 1970s.
Paraguayan coup d'état of 1989: The military coup that overthrew Alfredo Stroessner in Paraguay in February 1989. After Stroessner’s fall, Puerto Presidente Stroessner was renamed Ciudad del Este.