Ciudad del Este is one of the fastest-growing cities in Paraguay. It was founded less than 100 years ago by the government and is already the second most populated city in the nation. Contrary to Asunción, it has more areas to potentially expand, which means it might become the biggest in the country in the next 50 to 100 years. The “Eastern City” has become a commercial and industrial hub in the region, at the border of Argentina and Brazil. Merchandise from other countries are moved by boats in Asunción and routes in Ciudad del Este. In the future, it might all be done by train. Since its creation, the city has been part of a project to dynamise this part of the country and economically connect Brazilian shores with those in Northern Chile and Southern Peru. The future seems bright for the locality if it continues to grow, and it will make it a better place to live. Let us look at the history of Ciudad del Este in more detail.
Before creating the city, to reach this specific area, the workers and the military had to overcome challenges. In between Coronel Oviedo and the actual site of Ciudad del Este, 200 kilometres of routes had to be constructed. In 1956, a reconnaissance flight was made over the Department of Alto Paraná. When they arrived in the triple frontier area, they had to destroy the jungle and clean the bushes to free the land and make it easier for construction. Then the city was officially founded on February 3, 1957, by Edgar Ynsfrán Doldán. It was first named Puerto Flor de Lis. The goal was to stop relying entirely on the Río de la Plata leading to Argentina and create a new economic canal by the north with Brazil. In the near future, this “economic highway” should connect Brazil with Peru and Chile, Ciudad del Este being a central part of it.
Multiple important projects were created in the 1960s and 1970s to dynamise the city. A bridge was then constructed to connect Brazil and Paraguay, as their respective cities are in front of each other. It makes driving from the city to anywhere in Brazil or Argentina possible. However, the town on the Argentinian side does not face Ciudad del Este. Citizens and tourists then need to drive by Brazil to reach it. Two dams, the Acaray and the Itaipu, were constructed. The latter is the third-biggest hydroelectric dam in the world and has the 45th-biggest reservoir. Paraguay and Brazil share ownership. It consolidated the local economy and, as a result, the takeoff of urban development. Around that time, the country was led by the Dictator Alfredo Stroessner. As a result, the city, initially his idea, was renamed from Puerto Flor de Lis to Puerto Presidente Stroessner. However, his grip was solely in the name of the military-style government and did not affect the city’s management as much as in Asunción.
The city grew exponentially in the 1980s and 1990s, more than expected. Immigration was essential to its success. Contrary to a city like Asunción, which had more newcomers from Europe and elsewhere in the Americas, Ciudad del Este had more people from Asia. They had more immigrants from Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, Iran, India, Pakistan, Türkiye, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine. Asian communities are also in the capital, but it is nothing compared to the City of the East. It is considered one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. In CDE, the biggest mosque in Paraguay, the Alkhaulafa Al Rashdeen, is located. In the city, there are around 7,000 people who practise the faith of Islam. In the region, there are 13,000 more.
On February 3, 1989, on the 32nd anniversary of the city, Dictator Alfredo Stroessner was overthrown by a military coup. The new government wanted to erase the memories of the past government. They then decided to find a new name for the city. After being discovered without being settled by the conquistador, created in the 1950s as Puerto Flor de Lis, to being named Puerto Presidente Stroessner, they chose Ciudad del Este as the new name. They could have reverted to the first name but found the new one more meaningful.
The early 2000s saw the region’s development in Ciudad del Este and Paraguay as well as the Brazilian and Argentinian sides. All of them expanded in terms of territories but also grew in population. The whole region became an industrial hub, and Minga Guazú, just beside Ciudad del Este, became the industrial capital of Eastern Paraguay. However, it did not last long. In December 2001, Javier Zacarías Irún was elected mayor of the city. After six years, his wife, Sandra McLeod Zacarías, was elected to replace him. They stayed in power for 17 years. Being accused of corruption and favouring friends, McLeod did not finish her last mandate. During their time, funds were diverted to their pockets, contracts were given to companies owned by family members or friends, and Ciudad del Este was neglected. Citizens celebrated when the Zacarías were ousted from power.
The main bridge of Ciudad del Este, connecting Paraguay and Brazil
One thing that did not help Sandra McLeod was the 2017 Prosegur’s Robbery. It is the biggest heist in the known history of Paraguay. Around 70 men, armed like the military, closed the streets around the Prosegur office. During the three-hour assault, they accessed a lot of money. The company said that it lost 8 million American dollars. However, they might have lowered the number to look better. Some estimate thinks that they might have taken up to 40 million American dollars. One police officer trying to repulse the attack was killed, multiple people were injured, and there was lots of loss in terms of money indeed, but also a lot of damage in that part of the city. Most of the people involved were Brazilian citizens who could easily move from one side of the border to another. Some were killed or arrested in a standoff in Itaipulândia, Brazil. Others were detained in the Brazilian State of Parana. The Paraguayan police always suspected the Primeiro Comando da Capital for the heist. This prominent criminal organisation sometimes works with the South American cell of Hezbollah, based in the Tri-Border Region. Many police chiefs and commanders in Ciudad del Este were fired after the event by the government. The criminals chose this target based on how easy it is to access, as it is a free movement zone between the three countries.
After the Zacarías era, the city restarted some projects that were deemed necessary before but were not realised in their entirety or not at all. On the northwestern part of the city, beside the Acaray River, they built the Costanera Ñande Renda. Finished not long ago, it is 8 kilometres long and includes a beach. Apart from the main centre, it creates a new hub in the city. It also makes it a more peaceful or quiet area that the town was missing, as their downtown is at the border and is super noisy. In 2022, the new bridge connecting Paraguay and Brazil was inaugurated. They intend to make this connection solely for trucks of freight and merchandise, keeping the old bridge for the tourists and cars. The new bridge is located south, in Presidente Franco, closer to the official point of junction of the triple border. However, even if not in Ciudad del Este, it is very beneficial for them as it avoids the downtown area. It will dynamise the area between the two, along the Rio Paraná, where they might construct another Costanera.
In Ciudad del Este, there are 44 neighbourhoods of different sizes. The more extensive and more organised barrios are all located west of Route 7 and the downtown core. Some of them were organised a long time ago by the administrator of the Itaipu Dam, who created them to lodge the employees. There is no official data on the population of every single one of them. As for the city itself, there are, as of 2023, 311,216 people living in Ciudad del Este. It is the second-biggest city in Paraguay. It is also surrounded by three other big towns: Presidente Franco, with a population of 113,216 people; Hernandarias, with 82,088 people; and Mingua Guazú, with 98,936 people. The region has a population of around 600,000 people, but if we include the cities in Argentina and Brazil, it is close to a million.
Apart from the new bridge and the scenic avenue, you can do many other things in Ciudad del Este. Usually, people from outside the city stay one night before going to Argentina or Brazil to see the falls. However, if you still need to get all the necessary paperwork, you can stay in Paraguay and go to Salto Monday, which is in Presidente Franco. Avenida San Blás, located in Barrio Centro, around the old bridge, is the place to shop. You can also walk around the Parque Lineal and Lago Argentina. They were created as water retention basins for the dam and the river. Some university pavilions are located around the lake, making it peaceful. The Centro Cultural Mangoré is another option, located south of the downtown. And lastly, you can watch a football game of the 3 de Febrero. They are playing in the second division, which means no CDE region club is playing in the first division. There is one in the State of Alto Paraná, but not in the metropolitan area of Ciudad del Este.
If you want to move around the town, buses and taxis are the best options, like in every other city in the country. Since it is a free trade and moving zone, some Uber and Bolt might be willing to drive you to the other border if needed. Trains are not there yet, but it might happen in the future. Like Asunción, the airport of Ciudad del Este is not located in the city, but in one just beside. In this case, it is in Mingua Guazú. Unless you take the plane, which is deemed unnecessary based on the distance, you must take a bus to the capital.
The history of Ciudad del Este is fascinating. How it became that big in less than 100 years. And now, the “Garden City” is at a crossroads. The mayor is trying to make the city better for its citizens. Towns in the Tri-Border Area all depend on each other to succeed, which means that when it goes wrong for one, it goes wrong for the others. The region has much potential, especially with the “economic highway” project, which is trying to link the Atlantic with the Pacific. If the Ciudad del Este government does it, Ciudad del Este will benefit from it and be one of the best cities to live in this area of South America.
Skyline of Ciudad del Este. Photo: Civitatis
