{"id":9158,"date":"2024-12-30T13:15:13","date_gmt":"2024-12-30T18:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=9158"},"modified":"2024-12-30T13:15:13","modified_gmt":"2024-12-30T18:15:13","slug":"a-river-route-for-food-and-crime-the-dual-nature-of-a-major-south-american-waterway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/?p=9158","title":{"rendered":"A River Route for Food and Crime: The Dual Nature of a Major South American Waterway"},"content":{"rendered":"
Dante Andino fishes in the Parana River in Villa Gobernador Galvez, Argentina, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo\/Rodrigo Abd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From its headwaters in Brazil, the Paraguay River flows hundreds of miles (kilometers) south to where it joins the Parana River to form a single 2,100-mile (3,400-kilometer) waterway that carries much of the agricultural and mineral wealth of South America to the Atlantic.<\/p>\n

The riverine waterway connects Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay and carries much of the world\u2019s soybeans, ore and minerals.<\/p>\n

A container ship navigates the Paraguay River near the port of Villeta on the outskirts of Asuncion, Paraguay, Wednesday, July 10, 2024. (AP Photo\/Rodrigo Abd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The captain of a cargo ship from the Paraguayan company Paranave works with his crew as they navigate the Paraguay River after leaving the port of Villeta on the outskirts of Asuncion, Paraguay, Thursday, July 11, 2024. (AP Photo\/Rodrigo Abd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The bones of fish caught in the Parana River lay on the table after being eaten for lunch in Villa Gobernador Galvez, Argentina, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo\/Rodrigo Abd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the Amazon River is longer and bigger, the Parana-Paraguay waterway carries almost as much freight. In a sense, it is the Mississippi River for the nations of South America\u2019s southern cone.<\/p>\n

Given the nature of the freight \u2014 bulk cargos \u2014 most of the thousands of ships that ply this waterway are huge, hulking transports carrying loads for international food conglomerates like Cargill. They tower above the low-lying port towns that dot the length of the Paraguay-Parana.<\/p>\n

nto the bowels of the ships are fed unimaginably large quantities of soy beans from warehouses holding equally gargantuan piles of soy, the basic foodstuff for millions of farm animals around the globe.<\/p>\n

But like the Mississippi, the waterway known locally as the \u201chidrov\u00eda\u201d also conserves traces of its past.<\/p>\n

Dante Andino prepares to plunge a dead pig into boiling water in Villa Gobernador Galvez, Argentina, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo\/Rodrigo Abd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fisherman Dante Andino rises at dawn, around 5 a.m. His son Pablo, 14, accompanies him, learning the trade.<\/p>\n

The elder Andino puts on his rubber boots and once on the water carefully uncoils the net he will cast by hand four or five times in a day from the prow of his tiny row boat.<\/p>\n

On average, that will earn him around $20 per day. His net is the most valuable tool he owns, and the one that is most at risk from the huge freighters. \u201cIf we are not careful, they run over our nets and cut them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Artisanal fisherman Marcelo Munoz nap inside a container used as a base by fishermen before fishing overnight in the Parana River in Villa Gobernador Galvez, Argentina, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo\/Rodrigo Abd<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis waterway has made it very difficult for us fisherman, because for these big ships to pass, they have to dredge out (the river bottom) very deep,\u201d said Andino, as he prepared his net. \u201cThey tell us that the river is for agricultural exports, not for fishermen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we have families, daily expenses, we can\u2019t stop,\u201d he said. \u201cI am 35 years old, and stopping fishing now and looking for other work would be difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gustavo Id\u00edgoras, the head of Argentina\u2019s oil and seed business chamber, said the freight traffic on the waterway cannot stop. It\u2019s a question of \u201cworld food security,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is truly a highway that connects our country with 120 overseas markets,\u201d said Id\u00edgoras.<\/p>\n

A worker stands in a soybean warehouse at the Molinos Agro agroindustrial complex on the banks of the Parana River in San Lorenzo, Argentina, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo\/Rodrigo Abd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But the waterway also carries violence and drug trafficking. And the drug cartels, among them, Brazil\u2019s First Capital Command, have found devious and complex ways to use the waterway to ship cocaine as far away as Belgium and Holland.<\/p>\n

In the last two years, more than 50 tons of cocaine that traveled this route through South America were seized from the European ports of Antwerp, Belgium and Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Much of it was controlled by the First Capital Command.<\/p>\n

Police officers talk to a woman during an anti-gang operation in the 7 de Septiembre neighborhood of Rosario, Argentina, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo\/Rodrigo Abd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The trafficking is so large-scale that it can sometimes be downright brazen.<\/p>\n

In July, authorities at a river port on the outskirts of Asuncion, Paraguay seized four tons of cocaine that had been packed into sugar sacks in a container bound for Antwerp, Belgium. The traffickers apparently hoped that one sack of white crystals would look much like any other.<\/p>\n

According to a 2019 investigation by Paraguay\u2019s anti-drug agency, Senad, huge loads of cocaine were produced in Bolivia. From there, traffickers loaded it aboard small airplanes and landed in Paraguay\u2019s Chaco region, which borders Bolivia.<\/p>\n

A prisoner peers from his cell as penitentiary agents search the pavilion where the most dangerous gang members are held at the Pinero prison, Rosario, Argentina, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo\/Rodrigo Abd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s the perfect geography for drug trafficking, said Francisco Ayala, a spokesman for Senad.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an ideal terrain for trafficking all kinds of products, it is ideal,\u201d said Ayala. \u201cIt is a sparsely populated area with rough terrain, directly on the border with Bolivia.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cParaguay\u2019s Chaco (region) has, and lends itself to, setting up clandestine airstrips\u201d for drug flights mainly from Bolivia, he said.<\/p>\n

A private aircraft sits parked on the tarmac of the Dr. Luis Mar\u00eda Arga\u00f1a Airport in Mariscal Estigarribia, inthe western region of Paraguay known as the Paraguayan Chaco, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo\/Rodrigo Abd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Agents from Paraguay\u2019s National Anti Drug Secretary (SENAD) stand guard at a check point in Filadelfia, the western region of Paraguay known as the Paraguayan Chaco, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024. (AP Photo\/Rodrigo Abd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once in Paraguay, the drugs in the 2019 case were taken by land to Seguro de Villeta, a shipping port on the upper Paraguay River. There, the cocaine was hidden in freight containers bound for Belgium and Holland.<\/p>\n

Farther down the river is Rosario, Argentina, the picturesque hometown of soccer star Lionel Messi and revolutionary Ernesto \u201cChe\u201d Guevara. It lies just 180 miles (300 kilometers) from where the vast river enters the sea. Here, the trafficking and violence intensifies as the shipments get closer to the sea and drug gangs vie to protect their shipments. Homicide numbers in Rosario are five times the national average for Argentina.<\/p>\n

Relatives grieve over the body of 21-year-old Silvano Caballero, who was shot dead in the Villa Banana neighborhood of Rosario, Argentina, early Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP Photo\/Rodrigo Abd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rosario\u2019s link to soccer goes beyond Messi; in November, authorities said they were investigating the killings of two leaders of the fan club for the city\u2019s soccer team, Rosario Central, as a possible hit by rivals or drug gangs.<\/p>\n

Things got so bad that President Javier Milei instituted a crackdown on crime. Known as \u201cPlan Bandera (the Flag Plan),\u201d police were sent into the city\u2019s roughest neighborhoods and tightened control on gang leaders running their operations from inside prisons.<\/p>\n

Penitentiary agents search inmates in the pavilions where the most dangerous drug gang members are held at Pinero prison in Rosario, Argentina, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo\/Rodrigo Abd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Control towers are seen through a window of a pavilion where drug trafficking gang members are held in the Pinero prison, during a security operation carried out by prison guards in Rosario, Argentina, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo\/Rodrigo Abd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The luggage of passengers coming from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, are inspected by agents of Paraguay\u2019s National Anti Drug secretary (SENAD) in Mariscal Estigarribia, the western region of Paraguay known as the Paraguayan Chaco, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo\/Rodrigo Abd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The keys used by penitentiary agents hang inside their office at the Pinero prison in Rosario, Argentina, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo\/Rodrigo Abd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The Caacupemi port stands on the banks of the Paraguay River in Asuncion, Paraguay, Tuesday, July 9, 2024. (AP Photo\/Rodrigo Abd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
A crew works to release their cargo ship as they leave the port of Villeta, on the outskirts of Asuncion, Paraguay, Thursday, July 11, 2024. (AP Photo\/Rodrigo Abd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Briceno Medina and his grandfather Gerardo Medina relax on the banks of the Parana River in Villa Gobernador Galvez, Argentina, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo\/Rodrigo Abd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Manjui Indigenous women play volleyball in the Abisai community of Mariscal Estigarribia, in the western region of Paraguay known as the Paraguayan Chaco, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo\/Rodrigo Abd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Milo Lautaro Sandoval gets his slingshot ready to hunt pigeons after assisting his neighbor Carlos Andino to fish in the Parana River in Villa Gobernador Galvez, Argentina, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo\/Rodrigo Abd)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

– Rodrigo Abd, AP News<\/em><\/p>\n

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From its headwaters in Brazil, the Paraguay River flows hundreds of miles (kilometers) south to where it joins the Parana River to form a single 2,100-mile (3,400-kilometer) waterway that carries much of the agricultural and mineral wealth of South America to the Atlantic. The riverine waterway connects Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay and carries…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":9159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dims.apnews.com\/dims4\/default\/afc955d\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/8205x5472+13+0\/resize\/2720x1814!\/format\/webp\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.apnews.com%2Fb1%2Fc0%2F963cce1017e81fea228d1f264bb7%2F79a64d12b49240eeb9d969cdc8c031b8","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[189],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-borders-commerce"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9158"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9160,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9158\/revisions\/9160"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinamericasecurityreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}