LATIN AMERICA

7 domains mapped · Code: PY

These are jurisdiction-specific research-progress records. They expose first moves, likely actors, and institutional infrastructure where mapped; they are not a claim that every country has a finished statutory memo for all 61 domains.

Canonical domain beta-W from Industrial Monoculture. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Paraguay's soy monoculture has destroyed 90%+ of Atlantic Forest and drives ongoing Chaco deforestation. When per-farm deforestation and soil degradation data is linked to soy exports, W becomes computable.

4 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Deforestation & Industrial Logging. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:The Paraguayan Chaco has had among the world's highest forest-clearance rates, driven by cattle ranchers and soy expansion who profit from converting native forest while the region loses carbon storage, indigenous Ayoreo territory, and watershed function. INFONA itself has found that a large share of recent Chaco clearance is illegal under the law requiring 40-45% native cover on properties over 20 hectares, so enforcement of an existing rule, not new legislation, is the binding gap.

4 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Tobacco. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Paraguay produces far more cigarettes than its domestic market can consume, with manufacturers such as Tabacalera del Este importing inputs for tens of billions of sticks a year, most of which are smuggled into Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay and sold off the books. The private gain is concentrated in a few politically connected firms while the cross-border health and tax losses fall on neighboring states and on Paraguayan public revenue.

4 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Illicit Drug Trade. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Paraguay is the largest cannabis producer in South America and a transit corridor for Andean cocaine moving to Brazilian and Argentine ports, with hundreds of clandestine Parana River ports feeding networks tied to the PCC. The trade enriches traffickers and corrupt officials while driving violence and institutional capture, and the 1994 assassination of the SENAD director shows how directly it attacks the state itself.

4 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Tax Havens and Offshore Finance. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Ciudad del Este in the tri-border area runs a multibillion-dollar contraband and re-export economy, where currency exchange houses and money remitters move large sums abroad with weak controls on cash crossing the border. SEPRELAD has lacked resources and bank-data access, and most suspicious-transaction reports carry little usable intelligence, so the laundering channel persists even after Paraguay exited the FATF grey list.

4 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Persistent Organic Pollutants. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Paraguay imports tens of thousands of tonnes of agrochemicals a year for soy, including paraquat, 2,4-D, and glyphosate, sprayed with weak buffer-zone enforcement next to rural schools and rivers, and studies have found DNA damage in exposed children and contaminated cross-border surface water. The few large soy operators capture the gain while contamination and chronic illness fall on smallholder and indigenous communities downstream.

4 actor-lane actions mapped

Canonical domain beta-W from Gambling. Local route severity is a country-route triage value and is not used in the aggregate portfolio.

PRIMARY ROUTE:Paraguay's 2025 gaming law legalized online casino and sports betting through a small number of state-awarded concessions, expanding a fast-growing market whose losses concentrate among lower-income and younger bettors while operator profit and concession rents flow to a few firms. CONAJZAR was given 800 inspectors and powers to block illegal sites, so a regulator with real capacity already exists to constrain the harm.

4 actor-lane actions mapped

© 2026 Erik Postnieks · Independent Researcher · Salt Lake City