What do they say in Paraguay about the construction of the mega highway that will connect two oceans through their “green hell”

“It’s a new Panama Canal”: that’s how Egon Neufeld describes the bi-oceanic corridor, a gigantic infrastructure project that will try to connect Chile’s Pacific coast to Brazil’s Atlantic coast.

Neufeld, a wealthy owner of vast lands in Paraguay, says the highway — which will be about 1,400 miles (2,200 km) long and will cut through Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Paraguay — will make life easier for the region’s ranchers and farmers. to transport livestock and to export products. to ports in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

The governments of each of the countries involved in the project have expressed their support, but it is Paraguayan President Mario Abdo who has been one of the main promoters.

“Paraguay is the fourth largest soybean exporter in the world. For soybeans to reach the Pacific Ocean, they must pass through the Panama Canal. Once the new highway is ready, there will be a saving of around 25% in logistics costs for the entire productive sector,” the president said enthusiastically to the BBC.

About 525 kilometers of this new highway will run through the region known as the Gran Chaco, one of the most important environmental reserves in the countrypopulated by shrubs and wetlands.

Home to jaguars, cougars, anteaters and thousands of species of plants, it is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth.

This place hasn’t always been fun for those who wanted to settle in these countries.

When the Anabaptists, a Protestant Christian community, landed on this spot at the beginning of the 20th century, they called it “the green hell”.

Neufeld’s grandfather was one of the Anabaptists who settled in the Chaco in 1930 after escaping persecution in Ukraine.

Nearly 100 years later, his grandson continues to fight against the hostile environment.

What is the Bioceanic Corridor?

The bio-oceanic corridor is an infrastructure project promoted since 2015 by the governments of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Chile to connect four Pacific ports through a highway such as Antofagasta, Mejillones, Tocopilla and Iquique with the port of the Brazilian city ​​of saints.

It is estimated that the highway is approximately 2,200 kilometers long and the estimated cost of the total investment is that $10 billion.

The highway crosses the regions of Mato Grosso do Sul in Brazil, the Gran Chaco in Paraguay, the provinces of Salta and Jujuy in Argentina, and the regions of Antofagasta and Tarapacá in Chile.

Each country has a responsibility to comply with certain parts and deadlines, but it is not clear what the final deadline is for the delivery of the completed project.

In January this year, the presidents of Brazil and Chile, Lula da Silva and Gabriel Boric, They confirmed that they would accelerate the construction of the sections corresponding to their territories.

Perhaps one of the most advanced countries in implementing the projects is Paraguay, which already has one of the three sections it has on its territory.

“Section one of the bi-oceanic corridor, which is now complete, has already made access much easier for companies, because before the road was unpaved and when it rained it was difficult to navigate. Now you can easily reach the various Anabaptist towns and their neighbourhoods,” engineer Alfredo Sánchez, government spokesman on the corridor issue, told the BBC.

“For us, the biggest problem is getting the weeds off the fields. If you don’t take care of them, the weeds will come back and take over,” he explains.

Your community has successfully established itself in some parts of the “green Hell”, especially they have managed to build a profitable livestock and dairy industry and now they are transported in 4×4 trucks and not in horse carts as is done in other communities.

For Neufeld, the highway will provide him with more employment opportunities that will attract workers from other parts of Paraguay.

But what is attractive to one person is worrisome to another.

As it happens to Taguide Picanerai, a young leader of the Ayoreo indigenous community, one of the first inhabitants of the Chaco.

The Ayoreo community is already suffering the effects of deforestation as thousands of trees have been cut down to establish the livestock industry.

About 20% of the Gran Chaco forest, the equivalent of the area of ​​New York State, has been converted to land for cattle grazing and agro-industrial production since 1985, according to NASA satellite photos.

“The new highway will increase livestock production, leading to a major loss of biodiversity,” says Picanerai, adding that he is also concerned about further loss of territory for the Ayoreo.

He explains that in the past the producers moved to the ancestral areas of the Ayoreo, they prevented their access to water and limited hunting space for indigenous communities.

The life of the Ayoreo has changed significantly in just one generation. Picanerai’s parents used to live in the impenetrable forest, where they hunted wild boars and turtles.

His community was convinced by American missionaries who came to Paraguay in the 1960s to leave their lives as hunters behind, put on clothes and settle with other indigenous communities.

And much of their land was sold to ranchers and ranchers, leading to years of legal battles to reclaim some of that land for the community to resettle.

“This area is vital to us”insists Picanerai.

The threat to the environment

President Abdo acknowledges that the new highway will “lead to increased population in the Chaco” and generate “more commercial activity.” But he believes that as long as the laws are followed, the impact will be positive.

The president told the BBC that there were already strict rules for landowners, including a provision stating that “people can deforest up to 50% of their latifundio in the Chaco, and less if the area’s biodiversity is considered more vulnerable.” .

For the environmentalist Miguel Lovera, these measures are not enough.

“The construction of new roads leads to further deforestation and the cutting of forests into small pieces, which puts enormous pressure on the fragile ecosystem,” said Lovera, who heads an organization that fights for the protection of indigenous groups in the chaco.

On the other hand, for Bianca Orqueda, a young singer-songwriter from the indigenous group Nivaclé, the road has some positive aspects.

Orqueda, who runs a music school for children on the outskirts of the Mennonite city of Philadelphia, divides her time between her community and Paraguay’s capital, Asunción.

And the highway helps to shorten travel times.

She is not convinced that it is possible for her community keep living in isolation and adds that the Nivaclé must “move forward”, which for some may mean leaving the Chaco and their way of life behind.

“I tell kids that if they want to be a doctor, an architect, a dentist or a musician, they should leave as soon as they finish school and go to another city.”

“Here in Philadelphia there are no universities. There is nothing unless you want to devote yourself to agriculture,” says Orqueda.

For Picanerai, preserve the Chaco it is more than just the way of life of the indigenous community.

“The rich biodiversity of the Chaco means it is a global problem that everyone should face,” he says, adding that he is determined to protect his land from newcomers moving here after work on the new highway is completed.