The Boeing 737 passenger plane roared and landed safely at the Silvio Pettirossi International Airport in Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay. This airport, also known as Asuncion International Airport, is one of the only two international airports in Paraguay and the largest airport in Paraguay.
Asuncion is the capital and largest city of Paraguay, and is also one of the oldest cities in South America.
When the Spaniards arrived here on August 15, 1537, it was the Catholic Ascension Day of the Virgin Mary. In Spanish, the pronunciation of Ascension Day is "Asuncion", so Asuncion became the name of the city.
In other words, this city has a history of more than 480 years!
However, although this city has a long history, it is not really that developed. Paraguay itself is one of the poorest countries in South America. As one of the only two landlocked countries in South America, Paraguay, like its neighbor Bolivia, is a very poor country.
This country has a population of only 7 million people, and its annual GDP is less than 30 billion US dollars. However, Yang Jing's hometown, Tianqu City, has a total population of 5.8 million, and its annual GDP is 47 billion US dollars!
In other words, the total annual GDP of a fourth-tier city in China is 1.5 times that of Paraguay!
You can imagine how poor the country of Paraguay is.
In fact, there are not many major cities in Paraguay. Apart from Asuncion with a population of more than 500,000, Ciudad del Oriente, located on the banks of the Paraná River, is Paraguay’s second largest city. The combined population of Asuncion and Ciudad del Oriente accounts for one-eighth of the country’s total population!
As the capital of Paraguay, this city located on the east bank of the Paraguay River does not have many high-rise buildings. The few buildings are only about 30 stories high...
However, it is said that the river beach in Asuncion is still very beautiful. Perhaps because Paraguay is a landlocked country, the residents here are very yearning for the beach, so they built a large number of beaches on the Paraguay River to imitate the beaches on the sea.
This matter is really a bit sad to talk about, but there is nothing we can do, there is really nothing we can do, we can only blame Quaresma...
In fact, Paraguay used to have access to the sea. In the early 19th century, from 1810 to 1825, the independence movement in Latin America forced Spain to abandon its colonial rule over most Latin American countries. Paraguay, a Spanish colony, also declared independence in June 1811.
After becoming independent, Paraguay also had access to the sea on the west coast of the Atlantic Ocean, and at that time Paraguay also had a very outstanding president, Carlos Antonio Lopez.
This president replaced the dictator Francia in 1944 and became the new president of Paraguay.
During his presidency, Lopez vigorously carried out reforms. He sent his son, Lopez Jr., as a representative of the delegation to Britain, France, Italy and other countries, and vigorously recruited immigrants and invited European technicians to inspect the military and purchase weapons. Under President Lopez's painstaking management, the once impoverished Paraguay rose rapidly. He encouraged foreign trade and introduced a large amount of foreign capital; invited British and Austrian engineers to help build railways, shipyards, and steel mills; hired European and American doctors, engineers and technicians, and opened factories and schools; in 1850, the National Grand Theater was also completed, and a Europeanized Paraguay appeared in Latin America as a powerful country.
But just when Paraguay was thriving, President Lopez died of illness. However, before his death, he did something that would become the only stain on his life. He listed his son Francisco Solano Lopez as the "legal" successor, and as a result, Lopez Jr. became the new president of Paraguay.
In fact, President Lopez Jr. is also a very courageous person. It's just that because he represented his father on diplomatic missions to various European countries in the early days, he has gained a lot of experience, so his ambitions have begun to grow.
President Lopez Jr. had studied military affairs in Europe before, and learned about the new development of military technology and the importance of military construction. He admired Napoleon Bonaparte and highly respected the French Emperor Napoleon III at the time. In Paris, Lopez met the high-class Irish woman Elisa Lynch, who became Lopez's mistress. When Lopez returned to the country, he brought back a large amount of weapons and military supplies, and also brought Lynch back to the country. Lynch later had a strong influence on Lopez's ambitious plan.
Because of the diligence of President Lopez Sr., when President Lopez Jr. took over, Paraguay had become the only country in South America without foreign debt. The strong economic strength made President Lopez Jr.'s ambitions even greater.
After President Lopez Jr. came to power, he began to expand the military vigorously. After taking office, he reorganized the army of 7,000 people he inherited and implemented a plan for rapid military expansion.
Because of his admiration for Napoleon, he required his army to be equipped with Napoleon's uniforms. Two years later, the total number of Paraguayan troops reached 30,000, and the army alone reached 25,000, enough to confront Brazil and Argentina.
At this time, the Paraguayan army included 30 infantry battalions, 23 cavalry regiments and 4 artillery regiments.
In addition, Lopez Jr. also attached great importance to the construction of the navy, requiring domestic shipbuilding companies to build world-class steamships for use as warships, update naval equipment, and strengthen naval power. This greatly increased Paraguay's naval strength, with 1 sailor battalion and 1 artillery battalion, and the fleet used steam ships.
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