(Spanish: Guerra do Paraguai) - a military conflict between Paraguay and the triple alliance of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, which lasted from December 1864 to March 1870.

It was broken, left without the possibility of normal development for long and long decades, so it is not at all surprising that today this state is one of the poorest and most economically backward on the continent.

War of the Triple Alliance(Spanish: Guerra de la Triple Alianza), that's what it is called in Argentina and Uruguay (in Paraguay it is called only Great War), went down in history as the deadliest and bloodiest international confrontation in the history of South America, in which small but myopically fanatical Paraguay was literally destroyed. The Paraguayan economy, close to self-sufficiency, was completely destroyed. A significant part of the territories of the state was irretrievably lost. An entire nation was practically burned out, because 69% of the Paraguayans died as a result of the war!

Causes of the war

The Paraguayan War was the result of long-term territorial disputes between neighboring countries. These contradictions escalated during the civil war in, launched by the "colored" (the "Colorado" party), led by Venancio Flores(Spanish Venâncio Flores) in an attempt to overthrow the government of the "whites" ("Blanco"), headed by the leader of the party, the president Anastasio Aguirre(Spanish: Atanasio Aguirre).

For the Emperor of Brazil Pedro II(port. Dom Pedro II) and the President of Argentina Bartolome Miter(Spanish: Bartolomé Mitre) Anastasio Aguirre was an objectionable head of state, which is why both of them provided Venancio Flores with wide support.

The President of Paraguay (Spanish Francisco Solano López), a former ally of Uruguay, showed his support for the Aguirre government and wrote a letter to the Brazilian emperor, in which he said that any occupation of Uruguayan lands by Brazil would be considered an attack on Paraguay.

However, after a series of demands from the Brazilian government, which Aguirre refused to comply with, on October 12, 1864, an impressive army of the Brazilian Empire invaded the territory of Uruguay and, with the support (so far only moral) of the allied, helped the "colored" to overthrow Aguirre.

In response to interference in the internal affairs of Uruguay, on November 11, 1864, Francisco Solano López kept his word and ordered an attack, which, in his opinion, contrary to all conventions, upset the imbalance in the region. López wanted to end the unquestioning dominance of Brazil and Argentina in the region. With great ambition, he seriously considered making Paraguay a "third force" in the ongoing political rivalry between these countries. It did not suit him that only they solved important regional issues, by force dictating their rules to everyone else.

In addition, Solano López was not opposed to turning his country into a regional power and having long-awaited access to the sea through the port of Montevideo, provided by an alliance with the "white" and Argentine federalists (provinces, Entre Rios and Misiones).

Venancio Flores, Francisco Solano López, Bartolome Mitre and Pedro II

Paraguayan War: Beginning

The first "prick" from the Paraguayans occurred the very next day, on November 12, a Paraguayan warship Takuari(Spanish: Tacuari) captured a Brazilian vessel Marquis de Olinda(Spanish: Marquês de Olinda), heading towards the Brazilian state Mato Grosso do Sul(port. Mato Grosso do Sul). On board the vessel were military equipment, gold, as well as many Brazilians, among whom were several high-ranking military and political figures. The entire crew and passengers were taken prisoner and sent to prison.

Already in December, the Paraguayan army captured the Brazilian city Dourados(port. Dourados) in the south of Mato Grosso do Sul. December 13, 1864 officially declared war on Brazil.

The government of Bartolome Mitre, in order to avoid internal conflicts (the majority of Argentines supported the constitutional president Aguirre, they were against Argentina's intervention in the affairs of Uruguay, and even more so were against the war with fraternal Paraguay), immediately declared its neutrality and adopted a wait-and-see attitude, however, this neutrality did not last long . The fact is that in order to physically help the “Blancos”, the Paraguayans, in order to get to Uruguay, had to first cross the territory of the Argentine province of Corrientes: in March 1865, Paraguay officially turned to the Argentine government with a request to provide a “green corridor” for the Paraguayan troops, consisting of 25 thousand soldiers, but Bartolome Miter refused.

Following the refusal, on March 18, 1865, Francisco Solano Lopez immediately gave his army under the command of General Wenceslau Roblesa(Spanish: Venceslau Robles) an order to go ahead through Corrientes, which de facto meant a declaration of war on Argentina.

1865-1870

In May 1865, the Paraguayan army attacked the Brazilian state Rio Grande do Sul, and immediately after that, Argentina and Brazil signed a military agreement, which was later joined by the new government of Uruguay, headed by Flores. Thus, a military alliance was formed, which went down in history as the "Triple Alliance". The purpose of this alliance was to protect their state borders and, of course, the complete and unconditional surrender of the enemy.

Thus, the unfortunate Paraguay found itself alone against a powerful coalition, the financial backer of which, by the way, was Great Britain itself, which had its own interests in the region.

In accordance with the treaty, Bartolome Mitre was appointed Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, who later insisted that this fratricidal war did not begin at the behest of the members of the Triple Alliance and was directed not against the Paraguayan people, but exclusively against the government of the "dictator" Lopez. However, apparently this statement was just a mercenary slyness, because the union treaty provided for the division of most of the territory of Paraguay.

By the beginning of the war, the forces of the Triple Alliance were much smaller than the army of Paraguay, which had 60 thousand soldiers, more than 400 pieces of artillery and a fleet of 23 ships and 5 warships. They were opposed by about 8 thousand soldiers of the Argentine army, 12 thousand Brazilian soldiers and about 3 thousand Uruguayan guards.

Nevertheless, Brazil had a powerful navy, consisting of 42 ships with 239 guns and a crew of 4,000 well-trained sailors. It was the Brazilian squadron, consisting of 11 ships, that in the first year of the war inflicted a heavy defeat on the Paraguayan fleet in the famous Battle of Riachuelo(Spanish Batalha do Riachuelo), which took place on June 11, 1865 on. Control over the rivers practically decided the course of the war, because there were almost no roads in the basin and any communications were mainly carried out along the rivers. That is why, after naval forces The Paraguayans were defeated, the possibility of further advancement of the Paraguayans into Argentine territory was actually prevented. From that moment until the complete surrender, Paraguay was forced to wage an exclusively defensive war.

By the autumn of that year, Paraguayan troops were driven out of the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Mato Grosso do Sul, as well as from the provinces of Entre Rios, Misiones and Corrientes. At the end of 1865, the Triple Alliance, whose army already numbered more than 50 thousand soldiers, launched an attack on Paraguay.

On May 20, 1866, the allied troops invaded Paraguay and set up their camp in the swamps of Tuyuti. After 4 days they were attacked by the Paraguayans. This battle is known as Battle of Tuyuti(Spanish Batalha de Tuiuti), became the largest in the history of South America. The battle was won by the allied army, but the victory was "pyrrhic" - about 17 thousand people were killed by the allies.

Francisco Solano López placed his main defensive fortifications near the confluence of the Paraguay and Paraná rivers. Fortress Defense Itapir(Spanish: Fortaleza de Itapiru), Paso de la Patria(Spanish: Passo da Patria) and Estero Bellaco(Spanish Estero Bellaco) lasted for 2 whole years, from April 1866 to July 1868.

After the fall of the fortifications, the surrender of Paraguay was only a matter of time. In December 1868, after many more lost battles, Lopez was asked to surrender, but he rejected this offer.

On January 1, 1869, the capital Asuncion was occupied by the Allied forces. A provisional government was appointed here, led by a coalition "puppet" Cirilo Antonio Rivarola(Spanish: Cirilo Antonio Rivarola). Lopez himself fled to the mountains in the north of the country and for a whole year waged an active guerrilla war, in which not only men took part, but also women and even children drafted into the army - a total of about 5 thousand people, almost all of whom died.

March 1, 1870 in one of the mountain camps of the Paraguayan partisans Cerro Cora(Spanish: Cerro Cora), Francisco Solano López was wounded by a spear and, after refusing to surrender, was killed. His last words before death was the phrase " Muero por mi patria"("I die for my nation"). According to another version, he said " Muero con mi patria"("I die with my nation"). Together with him, in the euphoria of victory, the Brazilians burned alive a large number of civilians among which were women, children and the disabled.

Lopez's death marked the logical end of the Paraguayan War.

Effects

Brazil: Of the approximately 160,000 Brazilians (1.5% of the total population) who fought in this war, at least 50,000 died in combat or died of a cholera epidemic. Several thousand more people went missing.

The Brazilian empire expanded its already rather large territory, but paid too dearly for the victory. After all, the Paraguayan War was actually financed by British loans, which Brazil was able to repay only by the middle of the 20th century. All this time the country was in a state of serious financial crisis.

Argentina: Losses in the war - 30 thousand people, of which 18 thousand soldiers and 12 thousand civilians died as a result of disease and unsanitary conditions.

In addition, this war provoked many popular riots and protests by the opposition against the Miter government, which is characterized by excessive fanaticism.

Argentina also expanded its territories at the expense of the enemy, annexing part of the modern provinces farmosa(plain region) and Corrientes and Misiones, in addition, the country dispelled Paraguay's long-term claims in the territory Argentine Mesopotamia(Spanish la región mesopotámica) - a region located between the rivers and Paraná.

Uruguay: Losses in the war - more than 3 thousand people. At the cost of these human lives, Uruguay established relations with two older "sisters" who no longer interfered in the internal politics of the "younger brother".

The Coloreds gained power in the country and ruled for almost 80 years.

Paraguay: The result of this terrible war is obvious - Paraguay was defeated. About 90% of the men were killed or died of disease, starvation or physical exhaustion. A serious problem arose in the country: a strong imbalance between the number of men and women. There were no more than 30 thousand men for every 220 thousand women. In order to avoid a demographic catastrophe, the provisional government was forced to legalize polygamy.

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URUGUAY, PARAGUAY - WHO YOU WANT TO CHOOSE!

"Fashion" for South America came to us with the literature of Marquez, Borges, Amadou and Carpentier, and in more broad sense- with endless television series that showed the Russian public that "there is life there too." Prior to this, “real” life was only imagined in Rio de Janeiro, which the apologist for walking in white pants never got to, and even in Buenos Aires, whose inhabitants, without exception, danced tango from morning to night. There was also the mysterious Amazon, in which flocks of predatory piranhas gnawed careless bathers to the bone. And in those parts there were many wild monkeys and Don Pedro. Perhaps everything.

Now she has become kinder. And with their wild character, South Americans are closer to us, and they are just as sentimental, and in the economy, things are about the same with us. There is another important aspect: North America, represented by the United States, Canada, and now Mexico, does not really favor our brother. For them, a tourist from Russia is a potential headache: what if he stays? In the Far East - SARS, "mask shows", in the Middle East - vicious women in black headscarves, threatening jihad, buses torn apart by explosions ... And here - mulattos dancing samba. Quite a different experience!

There are, of course, countries or individual megacities with a tarnished reputation. Soaked in blood ... For example, Colombia or Sao Paulo in Brazil, which are the absolute champions in the world in terms of the number of murders. But, to tell the truth, tourists rarely get "under distribution". Mafia doesn't care. The most calm and safe countries: Chile, Uruguay and Argentina, i.e., "South of South America".

I did the math. Let's say we plan to go to Europe together for a month. Budget - 4000 dollars. You will spend 600-700 dollars on air tickets, the rest is accommodation (in motels and the cheapest hotels), food (not in restaurants), public transport. South America for the same period: air tickets - 2000-2500, but the balance is enough for everything else without restrictions. The sea, marvelous nature, exotic fruits, etc. etc. In short, all thirty-three pleasures. And for not-so-family seekers of romantic adventures, here, according to a common but authoritative opinion, it’s just expanse.

After a pathetic ode to South America, I will move on to specifics, namely, our trip to two countries - Uruguay and Paraguay. There was also a trip to Brazil for almost a day, but it was made illegally, without presenting passports at the border, but since no one demanded to show them, this short-term visit can be considered quite legal. Although there were no visas in the passports anyway. But first things first.

Frankly, by the time the trip was scheduled, I was almost desperate to gather a suitable team for traveling to these countries. Even despite the fact that the conditions of participation assumed only the payment of air travel, visas and more than a modest amount of two hundred and fifty dollars for accommodation in Paraguay, the applicants bounced off like balls. Even the “Naturalists” (companions on the expedition to Papua New Guinea in November 2002 that went down in history of fem trips) who had a ticket reservation in their hands, last moment decided that there was practically nothing to shoot there for their program, and therefore there was nothing to fly. Indeed: there is one zoo for two countries, and you still need to run after the birds in nature with a half-pound camera! Mikhail Kozhukhov (“In Search of Adventures”), who had previously been to Uruguay and Paraguay, decided not without reason that these countries were very boring, although it was necessary to go. But the very detailed preparation of his program requires such efforts that the Uruguayans and the Paraguayans would rather send him to seek adventure far away than bother with this project ... It became clear that the places were disappearing. But now, as if a ray of the sun fell on my head, beginning to turn gray from despair! The bell rings: a new travel program is being prepared for broadcast on NTV. Can I come to Ostankino tomorrow morning? What's question! Certainly can.

And in two weeks - a flight to South America. Thank God, almost everything is prepared. You just need to get a visa.

Visa to Uruguay opens at the consulate in Moscow within 4-5 days. To do this, you need to hand over your passport, a photocopy of your internal passport (first spread + page with registration), 2 photos. An invitation from Uruguay is not formally required, but the consulate checks the data on who invites to the country indicated in the application form.

With Paraguay visa things get a little more complicated. The Embassy of Paraguay in Moscow was closed in 2000 "for economic reasons". There is a certain "representative of Paraguay on tourism issues", but he does not show himself in any way and does not show signs of an active social life. Paraguay is still on the list of countries with “visa-free entry for citizens of the Russian Federation”, but this information is hopelessly outdated.

From Paraguay itself, I received a letter from the director of one of the travel agencies, a German woman (and the Paraguayan travel business, along with the main industries, is almost completely under the control of German colonists), who convinced me that she had been working with three Moscow travel agencies for a long time, and Paraguay more than a Russian citizen loves that he does not need a visa. I checked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs list on the Internet - definitely not needed. But just in case, I called the site developers and asked when it was last updated. A year ago ... I decided to call Moscow tour operators in South America, pretending to be a sucker who needs to go to Asuncion tomorrow.

Do you ship to Paraguay?

We send.

And I urgently ... Do you need a visa there? I heard no.

Probably needed. We don't know for sure, but we can find out.

So I can find out...

In other places, more competent, they nevertheless admitted to me that they had experience in obtaining visas, but a few tourists were issued in Rio or Buenos Aires. It took, like, one day.

Formally, to apply for a visa, you must provide: 2 color photographs, a passport, air tickets, a credit card (or other confirmation of “consistency”), and a strange document called a “police record”. As far as I understand, we are talking about a certificate from the police that you "were not involved and were not involved", while it must be "legalized" in the Foreign Ministry. In short, complete nonsense. I did this: I scanned my passports and sent them to Asuncion with a ticket reservation to an old German man who agreed to show us Paraguay at a divine price, he sent it all to the Consulate of Paraguay in Montevideo (Uruguay), having agreed with the consul that three Russians would come to them on the morning of June 17th. And so it happened. True, we were timidly asked for credit cards, but due to the lack of such in our country, the issue of credit cards was hushed up. The next day the visa was ready. It costs 45 USD from the nose, i.e. 3 dollars more expensive than Uruguayan.

We got to America “on the bed-posts”: on “Air France” to Sao Paulo, then on “Pluna” (Uruguayan airline) to Montevideo, from there via Buenos Aires to Asuncion on “TAM”; they returned to Buenos Aires and Alitalia through Rome to Moscow. I do not suggest this route, because it is unreasonably expensive, but if you use the Brazilian Varig, then you can fly to Montevideo for 1300-1350 USD. When booking a circular route with Asuncion, 1480 USD came out. You can just fly to Buenos Aires and then take the Buquebus ferry to Montevideo or Colonia del Sacramento. Two and a half hours sailing through La Plata (45 minutes to Colonia). 110 USD round trip, three times a day. Automobile connections to Argentina are via a bridge over the Uruguay River at Fray Mentos and Paysandu, but then it takes all day to get to Montevideo - Uruguay is only small by American standards. From Brazil, through the Rivera, you can enter Uruguay from the north, then on the way to Montevideo you can also visit the house of Carlos Gardel (the most famous "tango singer" of all time from Uruguay) in Tacuarembo. It will no longer be possible to enter either Uruguay or Paraguay by rail - the stations in Montevideo and Asuncion are closed, trains do not run. The era of steam locomotives ended here, but the matter did not come to diesel locomotives ...

In any country you need to go without prejudice. Listen to other people's opinions, but rely on your own personal impressions. Discard stereotypes, otherwise you will constantly try to compare one country with another, which, in general, is a useless exercise. Personally, I prefer to comprehend everything empirically; Before a trip, I read about the country, of course, but not enough. Firstly, the already “technical” preparation for the trip itself takes a lot of time and effort, and secondly, surprises are always pleasant.

I stopped comparing Uruguay and its capital with anything on the second day. America is like nothing else. Because she is eclectic herself. Uruguay is called "South American Switzerland", but this is not so much about the nature and standard of living (not so high, especially after the recent economic crisis), but the general atmosphere of quiet, well-fed well-being, which no crisis can destroy. In terms of “environmental cleanliness”, Uruguay ranks 6th in the world (immediately after Switzerland), although in nature it rather resembles the South of Russia or Ukraine. Cows are only more expensive... In terms of "ethnic purity" Uruguay is probably in first place in South America. The Charrua Indians were driven out or destroyed, and almost no blacks were imported from Africa, because there have never been plantations here. Uruguay was settled by Galicians from the northwest of Spain, thanks to which “dialectal features” slip into colloquial speech. For example, where it is necessary to pronounce “Y”, it is pronounced “Ж”, for example, not “Uruguayo”, but “Uruguajo”, etc., i.e. in the Portuguese way. And the Brazilian influence has always been strong.

Even when landing, it became clear that Montevideo is a big city. Still - half of Uruguay lives in it. While driving from Carrasco airport to the hotel, we were once again convinced of its impressive size. What does Montevideo look like?

Let's put it this way: it's a little bit of Lisbon, a little bit of Paris, a little bit of Naples, a little bit of Madrid. Moreover, all these cities in Montevideo alternate through the house ... This is a small Buenos Aires, only smaller skyscrapers. Montevideo is a modern city. Even the skyscrapers in the port area (Ciudad Vieja) were built in the 20-30s. This is the city of tango and the first Fords that came off the assembly line. Do not take me too sentimental, but this is a city in the style of "Nostalgie", in which the houses seem to share with each other memories of the long-gone "Golden Age".

In Montevideo, there are no wide avenidas with endless round-the-clock traffic. There is no vibrant nightlife, but they also have their own Shrovetide carnival, although not on the same scale as in Brazil. Residents go to bed early, at nine o'clock the streets are empty, shops are closed. Of the attractions here, the first in chronology is the fortress (Fortaleza Gral. Artigas) on Mount Montevideo, which gave its name to the city, which is visible across the bay about a mile and a half from its walls. It has a small military museum. What remains of the city walls is an 18th-century gate leading to Independence Square with the unchanging equestrian statue of General Artigas in the center. This gallant general became Uruguay's Bolivar. From 1811 to 1814 he led the struggle for the country's independence from Spain. The Palacio Salvo is also very good, probably the most beautiful building in Montevideo. Near the port there is a station building, which, after its construction, did not become a station, but was adapted for other urgent needs of society, namely, for a mass meal ... Something like a "meat extravaganza" is arranged in Mercado del Puerto: eateries , vying with each other offering to taste grilled meat (“churrasco”). We have been there twice and we love this place so much. You can eat your fill here for 5 dollars, and although it is considered an expensive “tourist” place (lunch will cost half as much in an ordinary bar), you don’t feel sorry for this money for such a meal. In Switzerland, for this money you can only drink a mug of beer. Toward evening, antique dealers and artists set up their stalls at the Mercado.

There is also the Estadio Centenario stadium in Montevideo, on the field of which the first World Cup was held in 1930. The Uruguayans then beat the Argentines. Of the classic cultural institutions in the city, there are several art museums (Francisco Goya is among the famous painters), including the Museum of Torres Garcia, a Uruguayan abstract artist whose art adorns Uruguayan peso banknotes ( exchange rate 1USD = 26 pesos). Other museum exhibits briskly run through the streets - we have not seen such a number of old cars of the 20-30s, and on the move, anywhere. The Carrasco area is also a kind of open-air museum. In the 1920s, immigrants from Germany set up mansions here, so now you can’t tell where you are - in South America or Bavaria. I must say that the Germans knew where to settle: right here begins a strip of wide white or golden sandy beaches stretching east to Maldonado and Punta del Este. This is the so-called "Gold Coast", which has made Uruguay one of the best South American resorts. In the summer (we have winter at this time), half of Argentina comes here: Uruguay is to the north, which means it’s warmer here, it’s a stone’s throw from Buenos Aires.

Of course, it is silly to go to seaside resorts in winter, but you can get the general impression, even though people wear knitted hats and winter jackets. When we settled in Punta del Este, I watched on TV a contest of Uruguayan fashion models held at the resort last summer on TV. Impressed. And fashion models, and Punta del Este. Busy, crowded so that the apple has nowhere to fall. I personally did not expect this from Uruguay. I thought it was only cows and shepherds...

Punta del Este in the east closes a number of Uruguayan resorts (Atlantis, Piriapolis, etc.), which can be driven by car in a couple of hours. Further lies Cape Polonia, but this is more for lovers of eco-tourism: sea birds, lions, whales. Natalia Oreiro loves to come here. Soak up, so to speak, on a rookery. Further north, towards the Brazilian border, are the national parks of Santa Teresa and San Miguel (deer, copibaras, flamingos, nyandu ostriches), the Portuguese fortresses of the same name that guarded these no man's lands for a long time.

HISTORY OF URUGUAY short but intense. The Spaniard Juan Diaz de Solis, who was killed by the local Charrua Indians, discovered these lands in 1516. Until 1776, this territory, the "Eastern Belt", belonged to the Viceroyalty of Peru, and after - the Viceroyalty of La Plata with its capital in Buenos Aires. For a century and a half, no one really needed the vast land east of the Uruguay River, and only on the coast were the annoying Portuguese continually erecting forts to spite the Spaniards, who owned the mouth of La Plata. In contrast to the Portuguese Colonia del Sacramento, which was under the nose of Buenos Aires, the Spaniards build the fortress of Montevideo in 1728-1730. The hinterland belongs to the new settlers, who, having displaced the Indians, are engaged in cattle breeding, fortunately, the lush floodplain meadows allow this to be done without much effort. In 1806, the British capture Buenos Aires and Montevideo, and the inhabitants of both cities enjoy free trade with Europe for a short time (before that, they could only trade with Spain). The English were driven away, but the aftertaste remained. They decided to send decrepit Spain to hell, and while the old woman fought off Napoleon, South America declared independence. True, she still had to fight for it. General Artigas was forced to emigrate to Paraguay in 1820, and for another eight years the country passed either to the Portuguese, or to the Argentines, or to the Brazilians. Finally, in 1828, the Argentines and the Brazilians agreed to leave Uruguay to itself, and the Eastern Republic of Uruguay gained true and legitimate independence. Do not look for the Western Republic on the map: it never was. From 1843 to 1851, Uruguay again fought with Argentina (the Great War), then got involved in a shameful war with Paraguay in 1865-1870. already as an ally of Argentina and Brazil. Then followed a period of civil wars, and then, finally, in the very late XIX century, a calm settled on the land of Uruguay. Estancias grew (in other, more familiar words - large latifundia; also not in Russian, but understandable), landlords and capitalists grew rich. President José Batlle (was in office in 1903-1907 and 1911-1915), was such a liberal that the very landowners and capitalists (the "White Party") opposed to him declared him crazy: he established an eight-hour working day, and paid vacation, and nationalized the telegraph, along with a dozen other major branches of the economy. In February 1945, Uruguay very timely declared war on Germany and Japan. True, after the war, many Nazi functionaries found refuge here, but in Uruguay they don’t really like to talk about it. In 1973, a military junta came to power, the communists were imprisoned and kicked out, with Soviet Union diplomatic relations were interrupted, but then everything resolved by itself and now we are friends again.

So friends that they began to exchange monuments, however, so far unilaterally, i.e. first we are to them, and then, on occasion, they are to us. Zurab Tsereteli presented Montevideo 2 bronze busts– Leo Tolstoy, after whom we had to urgently name a small square near the Russian embassy, ​​and Yuri Gagarin, who for some reason was placed on a distant outskirts. The pedestals at both monuments are obscenely modest, and the scale of the busts is not Tseretel. This is understandable: they decided to save on transportation, and therefore the size of the monuments turned out to be country-garden.

At the Montevideo airport, we were met by a prominent representative of the Russian diaspora - former sailor Nikolai Golubey, who had escaped from a Russian ship in 1992 and "naturalized" in Uruguay. He was engaged by the Uruguayan Ministry of Tourism to assist Mrs. Amy Ukar (the aunt from the Ministry who took us around the country) as an interpreter. Yes, just in case. He immediately stunned us with a story about how a couple of years ago charters from Moscow flew here with shoppers who bought cheap leather and fur coats here. Frankly, I have never heard anything about charters from Moscow to Montevideo. Maybe just a confusion of terminology? Not a charter, but a "block of seats" on a scheduled flight? It's still strange. It is one thing to recoup an air ticket to Turkey or Greece for 180 dollars, another thing is a ticket for 1000... Well, okay! “This is my bar. Closed, ”Nikolai shows somewhere in the darkness of the streets. And sighs. In Uruguay, after the crisis, it is forbidden to sell beer in bars for more than 9 pesos per bottle (10 rubles). With the general cheapness of food in Uruguay, people leave 3 dollars per visit in bars and restaurants, with food and drinks. You won't get rich.

Not far from Punta del Este, on a high cliff above the sea (perdon! La Plata), stands unusual house interesting artist- Casapueblo. Even from afar you notice that its architecture is somehow strange, fantastic, “non-native”. Carlos Paez Vilaro lives here. In the 1950s and 1960s, he traveled almost all of Central and West Africa, fell in love with it, exalted African folk art, elevating it to the rank of the pinnacle of world art. Frankly, in such an idealization of African civilization there is some "bust"; we are inevitably too different, and despite the presence of small groups of rastamans in our cities, they still look ridiculous (well, if you want to smoke marijuana, this is understandable, but why build a Negro out of yourself, with a Ryazan face?). Creativity Vilaro - a symbiosis of African and naive Creole art, a kind of "ethno-naive". The funny thing is that I thought he was already dead, because. the film was shown about him as if in the past tense. While walking through the halls of his museum, I noticed that some of the paintings were painted in 2002. So why did I bury him? And if he is alive, then he is somewhere here, because. one part of the house is a museum, the other is a workshop and private quarters, and the third is given over to a hotel. The whole house was built in the style of adobe palaces and mosques in Mali and Cameroon, however, whitewashed in Andalusian. The owner was at home, in his workshop, and we were escorted to him. He kindly posed for us, showed us the work, gave an interview for the program. It is interesting - a living Uruguayan classic, and even a traveler, probably the most famous in Uruguay. Then he invited me to his house, crowded, littered, hung with art objects - “trophies” brought from Africa, Oceania, Asia. The artist's wife, Annette, came out to inquire about what the guests were doing here. Grandfather's "lip is not a fool": like the former wives, Annette is a real beauty, an elegant blue-eyed blonde, thirty or thirty-five years old. In short, an amazing house, and its inhabitants are amazing!...

A good half of this, in general, rather big house, is occupied by a stylish (in the spirit of "ethno-naivism" hotel), which is rented by Argentines. There are both apartments and standard hotel rooms. Not in the summer, rent a room here for 50 dollars, but in December-January prices double, which is understandable - the height of the swimming season.

We visited two more places - the Medellin equestrian polo club and La Paz estancia. Medellin is located near Punta del Este. First, we were invited to dinner, which was attended by landowners from all over the area and even some retired TV journalist. Then the hosts and their guests, who had become rather cheerful, volunteered to demonstrate their skills in playing polo and teach us at the same time. The first time Dmitry Vozdvizhensky and I rode horses in the Dragon Mountains in South Africa, and the second time here ... But it’s getting better. Aleksey Peredelsky, chief cameraman of NTV, did not take part in polo; he patiently filmed the whole thing. Then he filmed cows and horses in the La Paz estancia, in the west of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay. Still, animal husbandry brings more money to Uruguay than tourism ... Although now many estancias open "guest houses" for those who like to be in nature, inhale the forgotten smells of agriculture, dream, watching how gauchos drive a fat white herd of cows at early dawn . At the same time, many estancias, which sometimes have a century and a half history, retain the appearance of an old estate, so nostalgists, again, the way here ...

Nostalgia forced the Uruguayans to turn Colonia del Sacramento, founded by the Portuguese in 1680 and passing from hand to hand, into a city-museum. Therefore, Portuguese and Spanish houses stand side by side here. The ancient cobbled streets have retained their appearance almost untouched since the fierce confrontation between the Spaniards and the Portuguese. The Uruguayans are very proud of the Colony; this is the only colonial city recognized as a monument of world importance, although, to tell the truth, it does not make much of an impression. You can climb the lighthouse and view the city from above, but it's better not to do this, as the view on the rooftops is ugly. The town is small, you can get around it in an hour. There are small museums - Portuguese and Spanish, several restaurants, near the Cathedral - a cafe where tables are laid in the salons of old cars. There are souvenir shops, but the Uruguayan souvenirs themselves are somehow inexpressive ... Well, mats are sold in various types with cut-out inscriptions “Uruguay”, tubes to them to suck on mate (some of them have breakfast, because this semblance of tea contains all the necessary trace elements to the human body). Well, leather goods are different. In short, we decided to postpone mass purchases of souvenirs until Paraguay, where there are more souvenirs and where they are cheaper by one and a half times (looking ahead, I will say that Paraguay justified itself in this respect by 100%).

Our route in Uruguay was quite simple: Montevideo, Punta del Este, back through Montevideo to Colonia, then to the La Paz estancia on the border of the departments of Rio Negro and Paysandu, from there a trip to San Javier and return to Montevideo. From Montevideo to Colonia, almost three hours drive, from Colonia to Javier - another three. The hinterland of Uruguay is not as interesting as the coastal ones. The towns are small, poor, touched by the wing of the passing default, and even before it, they, apparently, did not prosper. So, in order not to spoil the impression of Uruguay, I advise you not to go far from the coast. We made our way to the Uruguay River to meet the Russian settlers who have been living on its banks for three generations.

They arrived here exactly 90 years ago, also in winter, on a river boat from Buenos Aires. Several dozen people with all their movable property, small children (of which more than twenty died in the very first winter from the cold) from the South of Russia and Little Russia. In fact, they are Protestants "in Russian", denying the priesthood, rituals, icons, saints, etc. They called their community "New Israel". In 1913, the head of the Protestants, Vasily Lubkov, took part of the community to Uruguay, since the Uruguayan government favored new immigrants if they were ready to farm on empty lands. They were given a territory near the San Javier River, and the community members founded a settlement that grew into a small town. Few people here now speak Russian, but many have Russian names and surnames, although they speak only Spanish. They consider themselves Uruguayans, they are grateful to Lubkov for taking them out of Russia. On the street we came across a colorful character: a descendant of the first settlers of a shabby appearance, almost without teeth, clearly “under the fly”. From Russian expressions I remembered only “Hey, aunt, come here!”. Many Russian words were changed into Spanish. The house where religious gatherings and where, on our arrival, elderly community members from those few who speak Russian arranged a small exposition of old photographs for us, called “Sabranya”, and intoxicated brew - “la brazhka”, i.e. used with the article. All this was funny and quite touching to hear, as well as to see new batches of old ladies arriving at Sabranya to greet the first television group from Russia that came to film them.

They also sang their religious songs to us. They stood in a semicircle, opened a soiled notebook and sang. The melody seemed very familiar to me ... Yes, this is the “Cruiser Varyag” !!! Then they took us to the House of Russian Culture named after Maxim Gorky, but the old women warned us that the head of this institution, Mikhail Roslik, is a very unreliable person ... In general, they have a long-standing confrontation here: during the war, part of the Russian San Javiers decided to help their first Motherland, collected money for weapons of Victory. Then they decided to "flirt" a little with the Soviet Union; to this end, the club was named not in honor of Pushkin, but in honor of the author of "Mother". The conjuncturers were disliked in the community, but then only some mutual hostility remained between several old men living out their completely prosperous life in San Javier.

By the way, just three months before us, church historian Nikolai Sapelkin visited San Javier. I lived here for a week, collected all the basic materials on the history of the "New Israel" and went to Voronezh to write a book. Our ambassador visits often. In general, in terms of the density of the Russian population, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay rank first in South America. That's how it happened initially. In Buenos Aires, a newspaper is published, Nasha Strana, which Ivan Solonevich (a very curious emigre publicist) began to publish, so it was difficult to find a more anti-Soviet newspaper in the whole New World. Now the newspaper is the mouthpiece of the Russian diapora in all three countries. They also want to make a Russian-language radio - Voce de Rusia, they came up with a website, but the domain name sounds menacing - VOR. That is, take it as you wish.

They fed us cabbage soup, dumplings, gave us a drink "la mash". For some reason, the owner of the house, the one who treated us, took us to the children's volleyball school and with zeal began to demonstrate rest rooms, locker rooms, forced the schoolchildren to run around the hall and throw balls. When he was about to show us the showers, we quickly said goodbye and retreated. As they later explained to us, he dreams of writing a coach from Russia, but, apparently, the flight is expensive and Uruguayan volleyball is not so prestigious, so for now they manage on their own. Although, if someone is tired of sitting in his Uryupinsk, he can and will be honored to move here.

The Old Believers from Brazil moved here. First from Manchuria to Brazil, then, already in the 1960s, here, to Uruguay. Here they are called “barbudos”, that is, “bearded ones”. They founded their own colony - Ophir, although the New Israelites claim that they invented Ophir, and the bearded ones used the name. It’s not long to get to them from San Javier, 7-8 kilometers, but the road is broken, you can’t drive in a minibus in bad weather. The Old Believers themselves drive jeeps. However, if you think that they live hoo, you are mistaken. The only street of their settlement is buried in liquid mud, along the roadsides there are skeletons of broken equipment. In short, the collective farm "Red Bast Shoes". While we are going to the headman, the residents are hiding in their homes. We drive up to the house of the headman, Ivan Lukin. In the cab of a tractor standing in a grove, a girl of about twelve years of heavenly beauty, in a Russian sundress, is hiding. The boy is standing, leaning on a birch, less handsome. He says that you can shoot with a camera, but you can’t take a camera. The owner of the house generally says that they did not arrive on time. Today is Saturday, it's time to wash, but tomorrow is Sunday, after the service you can talk. And tomorrow we're leaving already... Our San Javier old women persuaded him to talk to us at least a little. We sat on the terrace of the house for half an hour, talking about this and that. Alexei refused the offer to sit down, answering that he had sat enough in the car. He leans on the camera, which is on a tripod, like on a cane, with his finger he obscures the red light bulb that is lit. Because, if you shoot for yourself, then you can, but if you then skip it “through the TV”, then you can’t. His wife, Vassa, brought pies and treated them. Delicious pies. While he was treating himself to a pie, the owner of the house asked how they learned about them. I take it and blurt out that I read about them on the Internet. Well, in fact, I could not know that in Uruguay, probably the most internetized country in the New World, they do not respect the Internet at all. Already when we left the yard, I heard how the owner in Spanish passionately proved to one of our old ladies that “www” is, in fact, “666”. This got me interested. Having already said goodbye, I asked to tell in more detail about this arithmetic. I was especially interested in how it was all calculated.

Smart people everything has been calculated. So it is, - said Ivan.

The Jews are cunning. They thought of everything, - Vassa picked up.

If you got on the Internet, then that's it - you were also counted. Nobody will escape! Ivan shook his finger.

Giving a reverent expression to my face, I thanked him for enlightening me in this matter and, as if I had received a summons to the Fiery Gehenna, bent over, climbed into the bus.

But, oddly enough, we got to Montevideo quite safely. Before leaving Uruguay, Ami warned us that Paraguay is not Uruguay. It's much worse. There bags, cameras, cameras must be held tight. She complained that they had been in Uruguay for so little. But what can you do: when you look at a map and read old reports and essays about the country, it seems that it is so small that everything in it can be covered with one hand, in one sitting. It wasn't there. We didn’t even have time to go to the tango (milongas are held on Fridays and Saturdays, in summer and on weekdays). Uruguay and Argentina cannot share the laurels of the motherland of tango. In fact, it would be optimal to take these laurels and share them. in half.

No one should be offended!

**************************

About five days before our departure to South America, late in the evening, a call came from abroad. It can be said, from the most geographical "opposite phase" - San Francisco. A pleasant elderly voice with a soft “not our” accent of a Russian person who has lived for decades away from his homeland asked “Mr. Balandinsky”, and then, introducing himself, asked if it was true that I was going to Paraguay soon. Having received an affirmative answer, he was delighted and offered to find in Asuncion Anatoly Fleischer, the former “honorary consul” of the Russian Federation, an elderly Russian emigrant of the “second wave”, who could tell us about the Russian diaspora in Paraguay and show the grave of General Belyaev. Well, the “tip” was most welcome: the topic “Russians in Paraguay” interested us very much.

Strange topic for South America, isn't it? Not Indians, not cities lost in the jungle, not undiscovered species of insects in the Amazon, but our own, Russian people, who were brought to these lands by a difficult time. And the places, frankly, are far from heavenly, as we later saw for ourselves. But on the other hand (and for us this should be a matter of special pride, as according to Lenin in the “National Pride of the Great Russians”) they defended and raised the whole country in South America to its feet. Let it be small, let it be the most backward on the continent, but without them this would not have happened, and the Guarani Indians would now live bitter tears in a foreign land, and there would be nowhere for the Mennonite Germans to stick, and there would be nowhere to threaten communism Alfred Stroessner with his iron hand . In Paraguay, streets, towns, cities are named after Russian officers who gave their lives for this country. Russian white emigrants formed the backbone of the high command of the Paraguayan army, leading it to victory in the Chaco war of 1932-35, Russian professors laid the foundations of higher education, Russian engineers created a network of Paraguayan roads.

When preparing a trip, I contacted local travel agencies. It turned out that almost all of them are in the hands of the "Paraguayan Germans." The latter are the second most important element that makes up the "Paraguayan nation", which in the 20th century acquired a "migrant" character, like the American or Canadian. It was the Germans who mastered the vast Chaco region, stretching west of the Paraguay River towards Bolivia.

I must say that the director of one of the travel agencies - a lively old German who volunteered to organize our trip - turned out to be a very adequate person, who perfectly realized from the very beginning what exactly the film crew needed. Mr. Hartmut Goossen was very similar to the late American "singer-communist-great friend of our country" Dean Reed, so much so that if the latter had not been deceased, then one could take a picture with Hartmut, and then show everyone the photo, showing off that "Yes, I, they say, with Reed himself! ...". I must say that, as usual, we called Hartmut differently behind our backs: Genosse Goossen, “Our Nazi Friend”, “Grandfather Nevmenaikin”. The last two nicknames were invented by Dmitry. The first is because, probably, even among us, young people, in the subconscious mind there remains a quite definite perception of the Germans, especially the elderly, by virtue of their age - the likely opponents of our grandfathers on the fields of the Great Patriotic War. At the same time, after all, it is clear that he is not a “fascist” friend, but simply a “German”, but it itches to pin up the “Kritz”. And Goossen became Nevmenyaykin's Genosse because he often evening he, let's say, "turned off" at the wheel, not perceiving our appeals to him, in any of the languages ​​​​we know, including German.

Special mention should be made of languages. If we all together, like Rabbits from Shirli-Myrli, could speak only three languages ​​- Nanai, Mordovian and Romanian, then they could also be used in Paraguay. I understood Spanish, English, German, Dmitry - English and German, Alexei - Russian, Ukrainian and, last but not least, English. And the most interesting thing is that all these languages ​​have been used by us! Even Ukrainian language! It happened like this: in Encarnacion we arrived on the coast of Parana. As always, shoot the sunset (sunsets were filmed over the Uruguay River, filmed over La Plata, filmed over Paraguay; now it’s the turn for Parana). Hartmut took us to the "forbidden zone", where ships are loaded with smuggling, transported to Argentina. While filming the crimson dawn, a joyful Hartmut ran up and said: “I met a guy here; he is Ukrainian, he also remembers General Belyaev.” The guy is a crest of about sixty, speaks only Ukrainian, but it’s clear what he’s talking about. He moved to Paraguay in 1949, that is, at the time when many thousands of our fellow citizens who were taken to work in Germany during the war years were dissolving around the world. What inevitably awaited in the homeland did not appeal to them. And so - there was an opportunity to naturalize in some third country. And it was not necessary to give an account whether he was in the occupied territory or not. The most savvy took advantage of this opportunity. The less intelligent took the opportunity to make an excursion to Siberia. For ten years. So: Alexey Peredelsky had to remember the Ukrainian language and interview our new acquaintance. Sometimes an almost forgotten language comes in handy, moreover, in the most unexpected place.

I liked Harmut because he immediately offered to show Chaco or, as it is also called, the Great Chaco - Gran Chaco. Despite the fact that we did not expect to see anything super-unusual there, not seeing the Chaco would mean ignoring a good half of Paraguay. So, having spent a short night on arrival in a hotel with the name “Bavaria” so dear to Hartmut’s heart, we set off at dawn. We always had to start everything at dawn, because it gets dark early in the winter there: you can safely finish shooting at five in the evening. So, having passed the bridge over the Paraguay River and leaving on the right hand a few "skyscrapers" of Asuncion, we are on at full speed, which our Grandfather's Chevrolet jeep only allowed (and it allowed to cover an average of 120-130 km per hour; at the same time, I was once again convinced that it was safer to fly by plane), literally "flew" into the Chaco, and the next four hours cut through the green, prickly, dusty, inhuman (due to the meager "population density") space. There are sandy deserts in the world, there are rocky ones, and this desert is green, made of trees and shrubs, with rows of palm trees to the horizon or a dense wall of the “bush”, in which only a machete can cut a path. Sometimes there are bottle trees "paloboracho" ("drunken block"), but they are of little use. Chaco - in the transition zone between the dry plains of Argentina, the arid highlands of Bolivia and the Amazon rainforest. It is extremely dry, hot, and there is no water. The soil is extremely saline, so that rainwater, upon contact with it, immediately becomes sea water, and is practically unsuitable for further use, whether it be drinking or irrigation. And clouds of vicious mosquitoes that pounce on the victim everywhere and at any time of the day. It is well known that mosquitoes in the tropics become aggressive in the morning and evening, afraid of direct sunlight. But the Chak mosquitoes have not read works on entomology, and therefore arrange a real "chaos". In short, Chaco is a "green hell". It is believed that the green hell is the jungle. Amazonian or Central African, for example. But it turns out that hell can be bright, sunny and dry...

On the 285th kilometer of the Chaco Highway, leading from Asuncion to Bolivia and marked on all, even the smallest geographical maps, there is a Buffalo Bill establishment. Beer, water, meat and salad buffet, desserts... When they brought the bill, they didn't believe it: $2 per person... This is not socialism, it's almost communism. Well, or the last stage of socialism before communism. I used to think that the cheapest country is Ethiopia. But Paraguay is like Europe, especially since the people are all their own - Germans, Russians, Spaniards. We stopped at a rural boarding school where missionaries teach Indian children, because there is a workshop for the production of furniture from precious woods. If Paraguay were closer to us, a country set could be brought (mahogany and leather weaving) at the price of some bedside table from a “branded” furniture salon in Moscow. Alexei and I were seduced by heavy folding algarroba stools, so each of us later traveled around Paraguay as a “foreigner with a stool” who stole an elephant from the zoo in the cartoon “Koloboks are Investigating”. Well, leather products are nice both in dressing and in price. You can buy various cowboy things, like a leather whip for a wife, for a mother-in-law, for some other fun. In short, in this respect, the country liked.

The first point in the Chaco, where we went, was Fort Buqueron during the Chaco war with Bolivia. The car turned off the highway and we drove along a dusty dirt road. We stopped in one place to look at the trenches - already shallow grooves in the middle of thorny thickets. Then we drove into an open field; on the left was an earthen mound with a strange structure in the middle, and on the right was the museum building, which, as it turned out later, contained a collection of weapons and photographs. Of course, this is not a fort in our understanding, it is rather the core of a vast fortified area, including a number of trenches that we saw. I believe there was a battery behind the embankment. Now a monument to the fallen in battles has been erected at its crest. Frankly, we have never seen anything like it. A pedestal of wooden logs, and on it is a kind of Tin Woodman with a frail gun, made ... of thin sheet iron, almost aluminum. The fighter's chest was pierced, and the through gaping wound resembles Paraguay in outline. Of course, the monument looks miserable, although the tragic pathos is quite understandable. The Chaco war was the bloodiest in the history of South America. And most importantly, why? Because of the illusion...

Historically, the Chaco region was part of the same colonial district - "audience" - as Bolivia. After gaining independence by both countries in early XIX century, this territory "de jure" was supposed to belong to Bolivia, but "de facto" it was annexed to Paraguay. For a long time, Bolivia did not even remember this God-forgotten land. At the same time, the Paraguayans slowly but surely mastered it, despite the fact that the only local natural wealth there was a quebracho tree, from which tannin was extracted. In 1884, Bolivia loses the war with Chile and loses access to the sea. For a young, proud and ambitious nation, this is a serious blow to pride. What more or less normal country can live without access to the sea? And if there are, then what kind of life is it? Disorder. And then they find oil in that part of the Chaco, which remained with Bolivia. Not far from Paraguay... In this case, how to export oil? To lay an oil pipeline through the territory of neighbors means to give a vital export item into the wrong hands, under the complete control of temperamental neighbors who have a new government every day. And in general: what if they have more oil there, in Paraguay?

The first sortie of the Bolivians took place in 1928, when they tried to establish their own port on the Paraguay River (although no one had previously forbidden them to transport goods). The Paraguayans easily knocked them out of the built fort. Then strange things began to happen: Bolivia buys tanks and planes in Europe, Paraguayan sales agents, who have much less money, buy cheap and light weapons. Where the Bolivian buys a howitzer, the Paraguayan takes three mortars; where a Bolivian buys a water-cooled heavy machine gun, a Paraguayan orders a pair of light machine guns. And, oddly enough, it was this forced "crooking" of the Paraguayans that brought them, not least, victory.

Bolivia had multiple superiority in tanks, aircraft, artillery and manpower. The former German general Hans Kundt commanded the army. He fought in the First World War on the Eastern Front, then built the Bolivian army according to the Prussian model. But, as it turned out, he was a “peacetime” general, unable to command an army during a real war, especially the Bolivian army, where every officer is a bag of ambition, a commander himself, dreaming of eventually taking the place of the President of the Republic. But the most offensive of all was Kundt, who lost the epaulettes of the Generalissimo after the war, to realize that he was "made" by his recent opponents from the other side Eastern Front- Russian generals Belyaev and Ern. Of course, the “local” General Jose Felis Estigarribia commanded the army of Paraguay, but the contribution of Russian military leaders to the victory of Paraguay is huge. Truly, they were the "generals of the salt parapets." It is Belyaev who develops the tactics of an active "guerrilla" war, using the experience of the Guarani Indians and, most importantly, their determination to help the Paraguayan government, and he also designs fortified areas in the thick of impenetrable Chak thickets. These "islands" turned into death traps for the Bolivians. Tanks and heavy artillery were "blind" in the Chak green hell, and Generalissimo Kundt did not trust the results of aerial reconnaissance. The attack aircraft attacking the Paraguayan trenches from the air were easily knocked down by bursts of light machine guns, the tanks were set on fire by ambushes. As a result, already in the second year of the war, almost all military equipment of the Paraguayans was captured. Machine guns with "water cooling" turned out to be an unnecessary burden due to the complete absence of water in the Chaco. The Bolivians surrendered in whole battalions in exchange for the opportunity to "drink some water." 30,000 wards of Kundt were taken prisoner, against 3,000 captured Paraguayans. Six out of eighty Russian officers from among the White emigrants laid down their lives on the Chak battlefields ...

In June 1935, the question arose before the Paraguayans - to move on, to La Paz, or leave everything as it is, especially since the human reserves of Paraguay did not seem inexhaustible at all. Common sense won: the fighting stopped, in Buenos Aires three years later a peace treaty was signed, according to which several hills were returned to Bolivia. And oil, by the way, was never found in the Paraguayan Chaco. The oil pipeline from Bolivia to the Atlantic Ocean was laid through Brazil. A series of ever-new military coups swirled soon in both countries, and the Chak War remained in the memory of one people as a tragic adventure, due to which another president “flew off the throne”, and in another - as an example of the greatest stamina and courage of the people who found themselves " strongest spirit...

After Fort Bukeron, where one of the bloodiest battles of this war took place in September 1932, we went to spend the night in Neuland, a place located in the center of the "Country of Mennonites", a kind of "state within a state" created by German-Dutch Protestant Mennonites who had resettled here from Russia and Canada in 1927. In Russia they were Catherine II, which called on the Germans - dissidents of various kinds, because it quite rightly believed that the Germans were the "salt of the earth." Contemplating what they have turned the lifeless salty Gran Chaco into, it is difficult to argue with this... The Mennonites themselves are Protestants among Protestants, even more radical than the Lutherans. The whole world around them was declared by them the kingdom of Satan, and therefore all contacts with him had to be reduced to necessary minimum. In addition, the Mennonites proclaimed a complete renunciation of military service. In 1543, the spiritual leader of the "Mennonites" - Menno Simons - is outlawed in the Netherlands, and a reward of 100 guilders is offered for his violent head. His followers moved to Poland, where they were actually "legalized" (the first prayer house was built in Elblag in 1593) and Schleswig-Holstein. Most of all, the pacifism of the Mennonites did not like Frederick II of Prussia and Napoleon. As V.I. Lenin said, "it is impossible to live in society and be free from society." Mennonites did not read Lenin, and therefore their stubbornness was worthy of admiration. On the very first evening we met several young guys, "ethnic Germans" who had recently arrived in Paraguay from Germany. Prior to that, by right of their birth, they moved to Germany from Russia. And what prompted them to move to this inhospitable place to feed the hordes of mosquitoes? It turns out that in Germany, when they studied in regular school, they were forced to go on excursions with the girls. And Mennonite boys don't want to be friends with girls, even Mennonite girls. Yes, and they are not allowed by the “charter”. Before the wedding - no, no! Remembering driving through the dusty streets of Chak villages, remembering the daytime (winter!) heat and endless attacks of mosquitoes, and at the same time remembering the toy towns immersed in flowers on the upper reaches of the Rhine or the Bavarian Romantic Road, you simply marvel at the courage and integrity of these guys, who unanimously decided to say “ no to friendship with girls and went to explore Paraguay! Think Germany? On the side of Germany! You give record milk yields in Chaco!!!

In truth, the Mennonites have transformed this land beyond recognition with their work. “In four years, there will be a garden city here!” Of course, the main merit in this is not religion, but the hard work that lives in the blood of the Germans, be it Germans, Dutch or Danes. Not only did they secure a quite tolerable existence in the Chaco, but the local Indians were given the opportunity to live happily ever after. They built exemplary villages for them - rows of cottages for two families, taught them to read and write and their religion. Although, by and large, the religion of the Indians is of interest insofar as "for their faith" they receive help from the Mennonites, including material. Yes, and the Mennonites themselves do not hide this, but they do not particularly worry about this, because patronizing the Indians, they receive “carte blanche” from the state for any economic activity. Asuncion is already looking askance at the Mennonites: they say they have created a "state within a state." But he does not touch, because he does not want to mess with cows and Indians.

In all the towns where we were - in Neuland, Philadelphia, Loma Plata - there are small museums dedicated to the first settlers. Touching collections of seemingly simple and quite banal household items (many of which were brought from Russia) are collected and systematized with German pedantry. For these people, settling the Chaco is like "exploring the Wild West" for Americans. True, everything went on without skirmishes ... They learned how to desalinate water, began to breed cattle. Now the Germans supply the whole of Paraguay with dairy products; we were even taken to the Trebol dairy, which the Germans are very proud of. This, of course, is not a distillery, but it is also interesting to visit a real factory at least once in your life, to see how people work. Otherwise, for example, I only know how to do in life what is beautiful to chat with the language and produce the first pleasant impression, although the wife says that this is a lot for making money.

By the way, "yerba", consumed everywhere and in wild quantities in Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay as a tonic drink, better known as "mate", is processed and packaged in factories also owned by the Germans. The yerba tree itself grows naturally in Paraguay and Brazil. If in Argentina and Uruguay they drink mate hot, then in Paraguay they drink it only cold and even call it by another name - “terere”. But the drinking technique is the same: crushed grass is poured into a pot-bellied or elongated “mother”, filled with water and sucked through a “bombilla” tube with a filter at the end. A lot of people eat just about that.

We drove back to Asuncion with a breeze. Half a day was allotted to get to know the city, but I don’t advise spending too much time on the capital of Paraguay. In principle, one day will be enough to enjoy Asuncion to the fullest. It's not that the city is completely seedy, but it's really small, with a small historical center overlooking the Paraguay River. Between this facade and the river itself is a strip of slums, where it is better not to meddle even in daytime. I have heard the opinion that in Asuncion it is difficult to find houses higher than two floors. Of course, there is an element of exaggeration in this; in the very center there are still high-rise buildings, but they look pathetic because of the shabby appearance. The most beautiful buildings are the Pantheon of National Heroes, in which two Guarani Indian women sitting on a mat sell souvenirs, and another old woman in feathers flies around the building itself, catching buyers, the ultramodern building of the Palament, which is being built for some reason by South Koreans, and the palace of the Lopez presidential dynasty XIX century, one side looking at the Paraguay River, and the other - on the street, built up with restored houses of the "colonial era", which housed souvenir shops and a restaurant. Nearby, in the square, there is a monument to Alfred Stroessner: broken limbs and head are squeezed by two plates, like a press. With a hint, "so as not to rise" ... If you go back to the Pantheon, you can pass by a number of shops selling souvenirs, including nyanduti lace embroidery and all kinds of leather goods, the prices of which are simply ridiculous.

We were interested in something else in Asuncion. Namely, the Russian presence in Paraguay. Harmut introduced us to Lucy (Lyusya) Gramatchikoff (Gramatchikova), who, although she has completely forgotten the Russian language, is engaged in the history of Russians in Paraguay. She led us through the Russian cemetery, enclosed by a wall with battlements reminiscent of the Kremlin. True, the grave of General Belyaev is not here, he is buried in Chaco, where he gained fame. Even in Asuncion there is a small monument to Russians who have contributed to the history of this country. It stands at a small intersection in the square Russian Federation(Federacion Rusa). Alfred Stroessner himself, whose ideal was Adolf Hitler, had great respect for the Russian Paraguayans, although he forbade them to travel to the USSR, and he did not let anyone in from there either. The dictator was stern... And whose school? Our school! Not only during the war with Bolivia, we taught the parrots in Chaco to swear, but also to hate communism in black.

Together with the remnants of the Russian officers in 1921, Wrangel General Ivan Timofeevich Belyaev sailed from Sevastopol on a steamer. Soon, together with his wife, he settled in Argentina, and since 1924 - in Paraguay. I am not eager to retell even in my own words what was worthily written before me, and therefore I will turn to a short story about General Belyaev by his biographer Boris Martynov:

“Ivan Timofeevich Belyaev was born in 1875 in St. Petersburg in the family of a hereditary military man, commander of the 1st Life Guards Artillery Brigade. An old map of the Paraguayan capital Asuncion, found in early childhood in the attic of his great-grandfather's estate, became a harbinger of fate for Belyaev. The boy read the novels of Mine Reed and Fenimore Cooper.
Having entered the cadet corps, Belyaev continued to dream of the Indians and distant Paraguay. And later in the Mikhailovsky Artillery School, when Indian bows and arrows were seen between the pages of the textbook, and already as a guards officer, when revelry in noisy companies was left for the sake of serious books and classes in anthropology with a famous relative, Academician S.F. Oldenburg, Belyaev remained faithful to his childhood passion.
Belyaev met the revolution of 1917 with the rank of major general. After the Bolshevik coup, he ended up in the ranks of Denikin's Volunteer Army. Then - Novorossiysk, emigration ... Fate threw him to Constantinople, then to Paris. But Belyaev was attracted to South America. There was an idea - to create a "Russian Hearth" there - a center of a new "cultural emigration", where "everything that was sacred that Russia created could, like in the Ark, be preserved until better times." The main principles in the arrangement of new colonies were to be apolitical and upbringing in the spirit of the traditional values ​​of Russian culture, counting on the future revival of Russia.
It seemed that Argentina should have been ideally suited for the implementation of Belyaev's plans. But having arrived in Buenos Aires in 1923, Belyaev did not meet with support, primarily among "his own". The leaders of the Russian colony of Argentina saw in the plans of the restless general a threat to their comfortable existence. Then Belyaev's gaze turned to Paraguay, where the Russian colony had not yet had time to take root.
Belyaev arrived in Paraguay in March 1924. He was immediately able to get into military school Asuncion as a teacher of fortification and French. However, the mentioned plans of the general were not destined to come true. Already in October 1924, on the instructions of the Ministry of Defense of Paraguay, Belyaev was sent to the Chaco Boreal region, the interfluve of Paraguay and Pilekanoyo. It was necessary to thoroughly explore this little-studied area, map the main geographical landmarks and fix the border between Paraguay and Bolivia "de facto", which would help, if not prevent, then at least delay the war.
Exploration of the Chaco territory in 1925-1932. became an important contribution of Belyaev and his few Russian companions to world geographical and ethnographic science. Having made 13 expeditions, Belyaev left an extensive scientific heritage dedicated to the geography, ethnography, climatology and biology of this region. He studied the life, culture, languages ​​and religions of the local Indians, compiled the first dictionaries: Spanish-Mocha and Spanish-Chamacoco. Belyaev's research finally helped to understand the complex tribal and ethno-linguistic structure of the Chaco Indian population. Notes on the Chaco Indians are of particular value, if only because their author was not an outside observer, but comprehended the life of the "Redskins" from the inside. The efforts of Belyaev, which contributed to the strengthening of the diplomatic and military positions of Paraguay, did not go unnoticed by the government - he was awarded the rank of general.
In the war against Bolivia (1932-1935) for the Chaksky region, Belyaev personally participated in many battles, successfully planned military operations, being the chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Paraguay. The war, which dealt a serious blow to the economy of Paraguay, did not allow Belyaev to realize his plans related to Russian emigration, and in 1937 he, who had already left military service by that time, became the head of the struggle for the rights of the Paraguayan Indians. But the National Patronage for Indian Affairs, led by Belyaev, received neither money nor land for the organization of colonies, and the director himself was soon removed from his post.
But Belyaev did not calm down. In April 1938, at the National Theater of Asuncion, the premiere of the first Indian theater performance in the history of America about the participation of Indians in the "Chuck War" was held with a full house. After some time, a troupe of 40 people led by Belyaev went on tour to Buenos Aires, where they were a resounding success.
During World War II, Belyaev, like a true Russian, supported the USSR in the fight against fascism. Speaking against those emigrants who saw in Germany "the savior of Russia from Bolshevism," the old general in his memoirs called them "idiots and deceivers."

In October 1943, Belyaev finally received the "go-ahead" for the creation of the first Indian colony, which was named after Bartolomeo las Casas. The following year, Belyaev was reinstated as director of the National Patronage of Indian Affairs with the assignment of all past merits and the title of General Administrator of the Indian Colonies.
Until the last day of his life (June 22, 1957), Belyaev fought for the rights of the Indians: he told the authorities about their plight, about the violence and crimes of the whites, demanded permission for freedom of hunting and nomadism, etc. Ivan Belyaev was buried with military honors as a general, honorary citizen of Paraguay, honorary administrator of the Indian colonies.
Ivan Timofeevich Belyaev left in Paraguay thousands of people grateful to him - Paraguayans and Russians, whites and Indians, left the Association and the museum, the most valuable scientific works, and most importantly, sowed the seeds of Russian humanistic culture in the distant South American land.

It remains to be added that the Russian diaspora numbers about one and a half thousand people, although the majority have already forgotten the Russian language. It began to take shape when Belyaev called out to come to Paraguay. Among the first to arrive were General Ern, engineers Boris Makovsky, Georgy Shmagailov, Alexander Pyatnitsky, Evgeny Avramenko, Vadim Sakharov, military doctor Evgeny Timchenko, gunners Igor and Lev Oranzherev. In 1925, at the special invitation of the Paraguayan government, Sergei Bobrovsky, a former professor at the St. Petersburg Engineering Academy, arrived in Asuncion, who immediately led a group of Russian "techies" who founded the "Union of Russian Technicians in Paraguay." This union, in turn, prompted engineers Alexei Kashirsky, Alexander Bogomolets, Boris Vorobyov, Vladimir Bashmakov and others to move to Paraguay, who later formed the National Department Public Works. It was they who designed the modern network of Paraguayan highways. The Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the University of Asuncion was created with the direct participation of the Russians. Sergei Bobrovsky became the first dean of the new faculty; Among the professors were Georgy Shmagailov, Serey Sispanov, Sergei Konradi, Nikolai Krivoshein and Nikolai Sharsky. In 1928, the Russian Orthodox Church was consecrated, under which there was a parish school under the direction of Anna Kuskova. There was a “Committee of Russian Women”, a Mutual Aid Society, a Russian library. Princess Nadine Tumanova founded the School of Lyrical Singing, from where the first professional Paraguayan singers and singers came out. Agrippina Voitenko opened the School of Classical Dance... During the Chak War, six Russian officers fell on the battlefields, whose names are immortalized on a memorial plate in the Pantheon: Vasily Serebryakov, Boris Kasyanov, Vasily Malyutin, Sergei Salazkin, Viktor Kornilovich, Nikolai Goldshmidt. Many came to the war from France and Luxembourg, and fifteen years later Russians began to arrive in Paraguay, taken to Germany during the Second World War and not wanting to end up in Stalin's camps. In 1948 from China (from former zone CER) a new batch of colonists arrived. Thus, the formation of the Russian "small people" in Paraguay was completed.

And the question arises : why the Russians, if they can be the "salt of the earth", then only not their own?

From Asuncion, we headed to the East of Paraguay, and immediately felt that this was literally another country. Green hills, elegant houses under tiled roofs, whitewashed, like somewhere in the south of Spain. This part of the country, unlike the Chaco, is densely populated: before you have time to leave one city, you almost immediately enter another town or village. The climate is different: the dryness of the Chaco disappears with the crossing of the Paraguay River, as does the heat. The feeling is that you are driving through a quite prosperous South American country, and not through the most economically backward. And yet, strange as it may seem, it was once just the opposite...

HISTORY OF PARAGUAY full of tragedy. Not as far-fetched and feigned as Latin American soap operas are full of, but real. At first, it all started tritely, like the neighbors: in the east lived the Guarani Indians, who were engaged in agriculture and even familiar with the basics of metallurgy, in the west, in the Chaco, lived the Guaicurus Indians, who were engaged only in hunting and gathering. And then the Spaniards came. In 1524, Alejo Garcia, and in 1527, Sebastian Caboto, together with Guarani guides, explored these lands (Caboto climbed up the Paraguay River). But only the expedition of Pedro de Mendoza, who arrived with special detachment from Buenos Aires, left a permanent garrison on the river, which laid the foundation for the city of Asuncion (1536). It must be said that warm, friendly relations were immediately established between the Spaniards and the Indians. Outwardly, the Guarani Indians, especially their female half, are quite pretty, with soft features that do not have such pronounced Mongoloid features as those of the Andean Indians. The Guarani continuously supplied the garrisons with women, so much so that soon the mestizos became almost the predominant group in the population of Paraguay. The Spaniards began to speak Guarani, littering the language of the Iberian homeland with Indian vocabulary. In 1617, Paraguay (before that called "Guaira"), received wide autonomy within the Viceroyalty of Peru and soon became the main center of the Spanish development of the Laplata regions, quite competitive in relation to Buenos Aires. The decisive role in the history of this period was played by the "Jesuit Fathers", who virtually ruled the country undividedly. They created their own model a theocratic state, with its own system of government, a powerful army. In fact, this state had a "socialist", let's say, "distributive" character. So-called "reductions" were created, where the Indian population was driven. In these medieval collective farms, the Indians lived, prayed, worked, of course, under the strict guidance of the Jesuits. At first, Madrid encouraged the Jesuits in every possible way, but then realized that the "state" of the Jesuits could become uncontrollable at any moment. In 1767, it was decided to abolish the reductions, and expel the Jesuits from Paraguay. Their land holdings were confiscated and transferred to the landowners. But now, in 1811, Madrid itself was shown a fig. In 1814, the "ruler for life" Jose Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia came to power, who, despite assassination attempts, lived to his natural death in 1840. However, thirty years later, his remains were dug up and thrown into the river ... Francia had something to hate. An apologist for a strong state, he took away all the land from the church, half of the land from the landowners, created "state farms", monopolized almost all sectors of the already meager production. Dissatisfied and recalcitrant mercilessly destroyed. He forbade anyone to approach him closer than six steps, to go out into the street if his carriage was driving along it, did not sleep two nights in a row in the same place. In general, this Francia was paranoid. True, his successors - Carlos Antonio Lopez and his son Francisco Solano Lopez - did a lot for the country. In 1842, the abolition of slavery was proclaimed, and in 1848 the Indians received equal rights with Creoles. Paraguay was the only country in South America to put into practice those ideals that were loudly proclaimed on the banners of revolutionary armies or on the ribbons of the magnificent coats of arms of the newly minted states, but in fact they were long forgotten in them. Railways were built, the telegraph appeared; Paraguay had the best army on the continent. But, alas, even this army could not withstand the onslaught of three states at once - Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, which attacked Paraguay in the hope of chop off more land. The war of 1865-70 is the most shameful in the history of these three states, and the most tragic in the history of Paraguay. The country lost 80% (!) of the population and a significant part of its territory east of Parana. Now, for sure, Paraguay was thrown back 100 years ago, where it stayed until the arrival of the first German and Russian colonists. The subsequent history is known. After the reign of the Hitleromaniac Alfred Stroessner, which lasted from 1954 to 1989, the country is gradually getting out of the swamp in which it has been for too long...

On a trip to Eastern Paraguay, we saw some of the historical and architectural sights that Paraguay is so poor in: the Franciscan church of the 18th century in Jaguaron, built by the Indians and famous for its wonderful carvings and ceiling paintings, the basilica in Itagua, the monument to the Jesuits in San Ignacio, but most importantly - grandiose ruins of the Jesuit "reduction" in Trinidad. Actually, this is the most important historical monument in Paraguay. It is located a few kilometers from Encarnacion, the capital of the Paraguayan smugglers. A bridge is thrown across Parana to Argentina, along which a freight train scurries back and forth, driven by an antediluvian steam locomotive. We ran after this locomotive! ... Still: here various frostbitten Englishmen pay such money to come here and look at working Paraguayan locomotives, and even then they don’t always manage to “catch” them, but here he is in front of us roams back and forth and does not ask for money. By the way, the train station in Asuncion is closed. Previously, the “historical train” on wood-powered traction carried tourists, but a few years ago it overflowed, seven people died, and it was decided to stop steam locomotive walks, put the Asuncion steam locomotive on an eternal joke, and dismantle the rails. At the same time, the trams got it. No more trams in Asuncion...

In Encarnacion we spent the night at the Tyrol Hotel. A huge complex, five swimming pools, rooms with furniture "under the Alpine antiquity". Guests - three people, not including us. As far as I understand, people will roar here in the summer. The microclimate here is much more humid and cool, kind of fertile. The owner of the hotel is a living embodiment of what a ban on friendship with girls can lead to: Hartmut in the hotel bar took a photograph from the wall, which showed two people fishing, holding a huge fish in their hands. “And this is his wife,” said Hartmut, pointing to the companion of our master. But the companion had such a mustache ... Of course, we kept silent, not showing surprise and not even sarcastically, as is our custom. Some kind of creature was still walking around the hotel, at first glance resembling a woman, but with manners, gait, voice still like a man ... In short, a strange hotel. No wonder there are no guests. Who likes to live in a hotel infested with hermaphrodites?

We were shown the Itaipu dam, which supplies electricity to the whole of Paraguay and a good third of Brazil, and even took us through the "holy of holies", showing control rooms and the construction of new turbines. A good place. Just shoot fantastic action movies, like the Terminator. True, they didn’t bother to turn on the water to our parish, so it was possible to ride a skateboard along the channel of the drain. Those who are fond of can easily come here and ride (just kidding). The funny thing is that as soon as we arrived, the electricity suddenly went out. I have long noticed that as soon as I appear somewhere, misfortune immediately falls on this place. I remember I came to the editorial office of one magazine, sat down at the computer, and then the editor came running: “Guys! Hide office equipment! It turns out that the bailiff came to describe the property. As soon as the magazine was going to publish my article, it was closed. Only another newly minted magazine decided to publish this article - it was closed even before it opened. And the same nonsense came to Itaipu. Itaipu is the object of the greatest national pride of the Paraguayans, and here it is on you: when the demonstration video is shown, the electricity is cut down! Of course, they wildly apologized, saying that this doesn’t happen every day, but I know perfectly well what the real reason is ...

From Itaipu to Iguazu - a stone's throw. But Iguazu Falls is already Brazil, or Argentina at worst. Why at worst? Because the Argentines have stricter border controls. Here, Hartmut warned us that, theoretically, a visa to Brazil was needed, while it was necessary to ask for a double Paraguayan visa, but in practice, at the border crossings, everything is up to the light bulb. From the Paraguayan city of Ciudad del Este to the Brazilian Foz do Iguacu, you need to get through the border bridge over Parana. For a couple of kilometers, brisk money changers are already starting to run up to the car, offering to exchange Paraguayan guarani (1 USD = 6200 guarani, while I do not advise you to take banknotes worth more than fifty dollars with you to Paraguay, otherwise even banks will not be able to find cash, and surrender is "green" from a hundred dollars - and even more so) to Brazilian Reals (1USD = 2.90 Real). Ciudad del Este is a “nothing” city, and when the border approaches, it’s better not to get out of the car at all. Dark personalities are scurrying around, dirt, sooty shapeless houses; in a word, uncomfortable. Motorcyclists scurry between cars - “motorcycle taxis”, especially for crossing the border. Pay one dollar and go to Brazil. You travel around the country for a month and a half, then you return the same way. However, it should be borne in mind that there is more traffic from the Brazilian side, and therefore you can sit in a traffic jam longer. The border guards on both sides physically do not have enough time or energy to inspect and check all the "tourists", so only pedestrians are "slowed down", who have to crowd at the visa control booths. Those in the cars are checked one in a million.

In Foz do Iguaçu, we settled in the Carima Hotel, and spent the evening at the Rafain show. Such a hodgepodge from all countries: here is tango, here is samba, here are Indians from the Andes, even “Mexicans”. The concept of the performance is "Long live Latin America!". Only national anthems were missing. In general, though not a disco "Help", but not bad.

However, all these shows for tourists are nothing compared to the extravaganza that nature arranges. Iguazu Falls is like no other. People like him got one by one to each continent. It seems that God distributed the most beautiful waterfalls from the very beginning: he gave Victoria to Africa, Niagara to North America, and Iguazu to South America. And it is right that we came here not at the beginning, but at the very end of our trip to South America. Therefore, it will remain in memory as a flock of birds circling over a cloud of spray and steam in front of a roaring rushing stream, and an even halo of a rainbow hanging over a waterfall from edge to edge ...

NIKOLAY BALANDINSKY

July 2003