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 Paraguay |  United States |
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Paraguay and theUnited States began bilateral diplomacy with a bang, when a naval confrontation prompted Washington to send a large expedition to Paraguay. The encounter led to the establishment of formal ties and set the tone for more than two centuries of bilateral relations that have expanded into cooperation on issues of geopolitics, trade, economic development, and cultural exchange. The two nations maintain embassies in each other's capitals and generally enjoy friendly relations centered on democratic governance and regional stability.[1]
According to Gallup’sRating World Leaders 2024 survey, 42 percent ofParaguayans approve of U.S. leadership, while 28 percent disapprove and 30 percent express no opinion.[2] The findings represent a 15-percentage-point drop in approval from the previous year. While the reason for this approval decrease is uncertain, intergovernmental tensions rose during the presidency ofJoe Biden after the United States applied sanctions onHoracio Cartes, the billionaire leader of the rulingColorado Party, who served as Paraguay'spresident from 2013 to 2018.[3]
Paraguay formally requested the early departure of U.S. AmbassadorMarc Ostfield in August 2024 following new sanctions on Cartes’s tobacco company, but Ostfield did not leave his post until theBiden–Donald Trump presidential transition.[4] TheTrump administration lifted sanctions on Cartes in October 2025, a move publicly welcomed by PresidentSantiago Peña. TheState Department said the sanctions were “no longer required to incentivize changes in behavior,” even as Cartes continued to face accusations of bribing legislators and exerting undue influence within Peña’s government.[5] The Paraguayan government described the measures as politically motivated and harmful to national industry; Peña's administration said their suspension represented the end of U.S. "persecution."[6] Peña has sought close ties with Trump since his return to office, expressing admiration for his leadership style and describing him as a “friend of Paraguay.”[7]
Followingits independence in 1811, Paraguay practicedstrategic isolation[8] from the outside world, maintaining little to no contact with the United States for nearly four decades. The U.S. recognized Paraguay’s independence on April 27, 1852.[9] Bilateral relations began amid regional tensions and a brief episode of hostility that claimed one life.
Over the following century, Paraguay twice waged full-scale wars with neighboring states, amid which the United States participated in peace negotiations and post-war boundary settlements. Bothworld wars of the 20th century had limited impact on U.S.–Paraguay relations, but during theCold War the United States expanded its involvement in South America to counterSoviet influence. Since that period, bilateral engagement has focused primarily on supportingfree and fair elections, discouraging corruption, and strengthening economic cooperation.
PresidentCarlos Antonio López, first Paraguayan to hold that title, signed several treaties of friendship, commerce, and navigation with world powers in the 1850s.[10] López mistrusted his Latin American neighbors and sought more distant foreign ties to strengthen Paraguay’s nascent economy and defenses.[11]
The U.S. engaged in a form of "gunboat diplomacy"[12] in this early period: Paraguayan troops at Fort Itapirú, near the junction of theParaguay andParaná rivers, opened fire on the survey steamerWater Witch on February 1, 1855.[13] TheWater Witch had been dispatched fromBuenos Aires to map potential trade routes in South America.[14] PresidentCarlos Antonio López ordered the shelling out of fear that the vessel sailed under false pretenses to conduct espionage; he also sought to assert Paraguayan sovereignty.[15]
Samuel Chaney, aWater Witchhelmsman, died instantly after a direct hit by cannon fire. Commanding officerThomas J. Page recorded no other casualties in his dispatch toWashington.[16] PresidentFranklin Pierce sent a note of protest to López but took no further action.[17]James Buchanan succeeded as U.S. president in 1857 and, after extended preparations, ordered 19 ships carrying some 2,500 U.S. servicemen to sail toAsunción and demand accountability.[18]
Paraguay expressed conciliation after the force's arrival in January 1859. López's government paid an indemnity of $10,000 (about $395,000 in 2025) for Chaney's death as part of a new treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation.[19] The payment served as a mostly symbolic gesture, as the United States expended well over $2 million (more than $70 million in 2025) to fund the expedition.[20]
Plans to appoint a permanent envoy in 1861 fell apart as theAmerican Civil War (1861–1865) sidelined U.S. diplomacy.[21] Relations got back on track in 1869, with the arrival ofMartin T. McMahon as the first U.S. minister resident and consul general.
TheWar of the Triple Alliance (1864–1870) againstBrazil,Argentina, andUruguay ensued with Paraguay under the leadership ofFrancisco Solano López, son of Carlos, devastating Paraguay for generations.[22] From December 1868 through June 1869, McMahon began to advocate for U.S. intervention in the War of the Triple Alliance, having witnessed firsthand the grievous harm it inflicted. By some estimates, as much as half of Paraguay’s prewar population — likely between 400,000 and 500,000 people — had died by the time Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay ended their occupation in the mid-1870s.[23][24]
The United States regarded victorious Brazil andEmperor Pedro II with particular disfavor. Brazil retained slavery for decades after the U.S. abolished it, and anti-monarchism extant since the end ofBritish rule in the U.S. remained popular.[25][26] Pedro II also welcomedimmigrants to Brazil who remained bitter over theConfederates’ defeat in the American Civil War, and who wished to continue owning slaves.[27][28] Brazil sustained heavy casualties and expenditures to invade Paraguay, but finished the effort with a battle-hardened, professional army that challenged U.S. strategic ambitions in the Americas.[29][30]
McMahon described the war in Paraguay as an “extermination” by the allied powers and invoked theMonroe Doctrine as justification for the United States to help end the bloodshed and restrain imperial expansion in South America.[31][32] Using his influence as a senior officer and veteran of the American Civil War, McMahon won sympathetic press coverage and informal hearings in Washington.[33] Nevertheless, PresidentUlysses S. Grant declined to pursue any diplomatic, economic, or military measures in Paraguay’s favor, wary of foreign entanglements in theReconstruction era.[34][35]
In the war’s aftermath, Paraguay and Argentina hadongoing border disputes. Both nations submitted the matter to arbitration byRutherford B. Hayes, U.S. president from 1877 to 1881, who granted Paraguay most of the contested territory in 1878.[36] Paraguay later named acity, anadministrative region, and a national holiday in his honor; it observes November 12 asDía del Laudo Hayes, commemorating the award that preserved its sovereignty.[37]
After the war's conclusion, Paraguay received little international attention until theChaco War withBolivia (1932–1935). U.S. and European firms supplied arms to both sides.[38] Populist politicianHuey Long promoted Paraguay's cause on the floor of the U.S. Senate and derided Bolivia, shifting public perception of the war in the U.S. and in Latin America.[39]A peace treaty in 1938 involving U.S. and other neutral diplomats awarded most of the Chaco region to Paraguay.[40]
Washington's influence in Paraguay expanded duringWorld War II with economic and technical assistance.[41] Seeking to counterAxis influence in South America, in 1942 the U.S. funded significant public health, agriculture and infrastructure projects in Paraguay for the first time.[42] During the conflict, Washington liaised withHiginio Morínigo, a general who seized the Paraguayan presidency in 1940. Morínigo, having no ideological opposition to fascism, severed ties withNazi Germany and its allies in 1942 under pressure from the United States and in pursuit of economic aid.[43] For the same reasons, he declared war on the Axis in February 1945.[44] With thewar in Europe nearly over by that time, Paraguayan forces never saw combat abroad. Beyond the country’s limited resources and landlocked geography, Paraguayans expressed reluctance to enter another conflict after suffering more than 50,000 killed and wounded in the Chaco War.[45]
In the post-war period, Paraguay experienced several years of political instability. Morínigo lost power and fled to exile in Argentina in 1948, and several men served as president for brief periods beforeAlfredo Stroessner established a new dictatorship in 1954. During his 35-year rule, the United Statessupported anti-communist repression and maintained close security and economic ties.[46] Between 1962 and 1989, the United States provided more than $150 million in direct economic and military assistance to Paraguay under the Stroessner regime.[47] The United States indirectly supported theItaipu Dam, inaugurated in May 1984 by Stroessner and his Brazilian counterpart, the dictatorJoão Figueiredo. More than $2 billion in U.S. aid for Brazil as a whole arrived during this era under theAlliance for Progress, helping to strengthen Brazil's financial and energy sectors and enabling financing for Paraguay's share of Itaipu’s construction.[48]
U.S. relations with Stroessner soured over the next five years, as Washington grew ever more vocal about his regime's human rights abuses.[49] The collapse of Soviet power in the late 1980s also relieved the United States of any strategic interest in propping up anti-communist dictators in Latin America.[50] WhenAndrés Rodríguez moved totopple Stroessner in February 1989, Washington adopted a cautious stance and subtly departed from its traditional policy of opposing military takeovers in the Americas.[51]
Afterdriving Stroessner into exile and assuming the presidency, Rodríguez pledged to restore democracy in Paraguay, a goal the United States embraced.[52] Rodríguez presided over constitutional changes, including a single-term limit for the presidency that bans re-election after five years of service.[53] Accordingly, he stepped down in 1993 in favor ofJuan Carlos Wasmosy, who won what former U.S. PresidentJimmy Carter and other international observers regarded as Paraguay's first free and fair election in more than 50 years.[54] Each Paraguayan president since that time has left office after no more than five years of service.
In recent years, theU.S. Agency for International Development has administered most U.S. expenses to assist Paraguay; only about 4 percent of total funding has supported military purposes, compared with 96 percent for economic development.[55] USAID's largest single project, valued at about $1.85 million annually, sought to counter deforestation and encourage better land use and management by improving monitoring and enforcement of environmental regulations.[56] Total U.S. government funding for all agencies operating in Paraguay fell from a peak of $51.3 million in 2010 to about $4.4 million as of October 2025. Analysts have suggested that the downward trend accelerated amid large-scale cuts by the Trump administration to USAID operations worldwide.[57] The Biden Administration funded about $25.4 million in projects in 2022.[55]
U.S. diplomats and aid agencies have gradually stepped up initiatives to reduce corruption in Paraguay since the administration of PresidentBarack Obama, when a global survey of public-sector integrity ranked Paraguay 154th out of 180 countries, with 180 representing the worst perceived performance.[58] By 2024, the same index ranked Paraguay 149th out of 180, a marginal improvement over 2009 but reflecting a four-point decline from the previous year’s ranking.[59] Analysts have attributed the country’s limited progress to the continued dominance of the rulingColorado Party over legislative, bureaucratic, and law-enforcement institutions, fostering a culture ofimpunity even after opposition candidateFernando Lugo won the presidency in 2008.[60] The lifting of sanctions in 2025 on former presidentCartes marked the first instance in the 21st century in which Washington reversed a major anti-corruption measure targeting a Paraguayan politician.
Paraguay is one of 12 sovereign states that maintain full diplomatic relations withTaiwan (officially, the Republic of China) and consequently have no formal relations with thePeople's Republic of China.[61] The mainland Chinese government maintains a long-standing policy that states seeking diplomatic relations with it must accept its "one China" principle and cannot simultaneously maintain official ties with Taiwan; mostUnited Nations member states have adopted this position.[62] The United States is among the large majority of states that recognize only the People's Republic of China and have no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, yet it remains Taiwan's most important international backer and a major supplier of arms.[63]
Chinese efforts to win recognition and expand influence contributed toHonduras’s decision to establish relations with Beijing and end ties with Taipei in 2023,[64] followed byNauru in 2024.[65] During the2023 Paraguayan general election, opposition candidateEfraín Alegre advocated switching recognition from Taiwan to the People’s Republic of China, whileSantiago Peña pledged to maintain relations with Taipei; Peña went on to win the presidency by about 15 percentage points.[66] Peña's modern Colorado Party inherited Stroessner's staunch anti-Communist stance. Taiwan has helped Paraguay with hundreds of millions of dollars in loans, grants and investment, while Washington has promoted Paraguay–Taiwan relations.[67][68]
TheUnited States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) conducts joint training and security-cooperation activities with Paraguay’sarmed forces, focusing on counter-narcotics, cyber defense, and regional stability. In 2024, Paraguayan and U.S. Marine forces met in Asunción to plan future bilateral exercises, and a joint cybersecurity review identified foreign espionage threats to Paraguayan networks. President Peña also visited SOUTHCOM headquarters in Florida to discuss these cooperative efforts.[69][70][71] The United States cooperates with Paraguayan authorities in theTriple Frontier area,[72] where the borders of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina converge. U.S. agencies have supported joint investigations targeting narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, and terror financing networks in the region. The U.S. Department of the Treasury has sanctioned several individuals accused of financingHezbollah fromCiudad del Este since the early 2000s.[73]
Paraguay depends onhydroelectric power generation both for its own needs and to sell energy to neighboring countries; theItaipú Dam andYacyretá Dam underpin South America's international energy market, though each created a reservoir that inundated thousands of square kilometers, together displacing more than 100,000 people[74][75] and destroying the habitat of countless species.[76] Meanwhile, deforestation advances at one of the highest rates globally. In recent years, the livestock industry has been identified as a major driver, as ranchers clear forest and burn land to make room for pasture and fodder.[77] The United States’ role in this dynamic is complex: policymakers have sought to encourage renewable energy development while discouraging habitat loss and unsustainable land use.[78] The expansion of Paraguay’s beef industry is also influenced by higher global demand, a trend that the Trump administration has encouraged South American producers to fulfill, in hopes of reducing domestic consumer prices.[79]
In 2024, U.S. goods exports to Paraguay totaled about $3.2 billion, while imports from Paraguay were approximately $356 million, resulting in a U.S. trade surplus of roughly $2.8 billion.[80] Major U.S. multinationals such asCargill,Millicom (operating asTigo), andCitibank operate in Paraguay, primarily in the agro-industrial, telecommunications, and financial sectors.
Paraguay’s top export is soy and soy derivatives, which find limited traction in the United States given U.S. dominance in soy production and the cost disadvantages Paraguay faces as a landlocked exporter.[81][82] In contrast, Paraguay’s "meat and edible offal" (predominantly beef) is its second-largest export category.[83] After years of diplomacy, the United States in late 2023 permitted imports of chilled or frozen Paraguayan beef under strict health controls.[84] In 2023, U.S. beef imports from Paraguay were minimal (approximately 75 tons).[85] In the first half of 2025, that figure climbed to about 19,800 tons (valued at roughly $111.9 million), marking a rapid expansion of market access and demand.[86] The new imports help fulfill U.S. demand in light of lower domestic cattle headcounts, primarily owed to higher production costs.[87]
The U.S.-Paraguay trade imbalance is largely driven by manufactured goods and resources that Paraguay cannot produce domestically. Machinery, such as construction equipment and climate-control systems, accounted for an estimated $542 million in 2024, making it likely the highest-value trade category between the two countries. Mineral fuels, oils, and distillation products generated about $477 million from Paraguay in U.S. enterprises that same year.[88]
In the first half of 2023, Paraguay received 8,032 visitors from the United States, according to Paraguay'sSecretaría Nacional de Turismo (Senatur, "National Tourism Secretariat").[89] The U.S. Embassy in Asunción issued 10,325 nonimmigrant visas in 2023.[90] As with nearly all countries in Latin America, holders ofParaguayan passports mustobtain a visa through theU.S. Department of State to enter the United States for any purpose, including tourism, study, or employment.[91] In contrast,U.S. citizens may enter Paraguay visa-free for up to 90 days.[92] Tourist stays can generally be extended once, for up to an additional 90 days, by applying to Paraguay’sDirección Nacional de Migraciones (DNM, "National Immigration Directorate").[93] These 90-day stays do not confer the right to engage in paid employment in Paraguay.[94] Foreign nationals who are lawfully present in the country may, however, apply for a work visa or for temporary or permanent residence through the DNM.[95]
In August 2025, the United States and Paraguay signed asafe third country agreement[96] that allows U.S. authorities to transfer to Paraguay any nationals of third countries who had applied forasylum while in U.S. territory.[97] Under the memorandum, people transferred are to remain in Paraguay until a final decision is made on their protection claims.[98] Both governments presented the agreement as strengthening their strategic partnership and helping to manageirregular migration in the hemisphere.[99] In Paraguay, critics includingABC Color described the arrangement as turning the country into a U.S. migration "waiting room." They objected that the memorandum entered into force immediately without being submitted to theCongress, which they argued is unconstitutional in Paraguay;ABC Color also reported that its implementation is subject to each side’s own financial and technical capacity,[100] and that neither the U.S. nor Paraguay is obligated to cover the other's costs under the arrangement.[101][102]
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As of late 2025, no direct commercial passenger flights operate between any U.S. airport and landlocked Paraguay.American Airlines launched nonstopMiami–Asunción service in November 2012 and ended the route in March 2015, leaving Paraguay without a direct connection to the United States.[103][104] A group using theEastern Airlines name launched Miami–Asunción service in January 2021, but suspended the route in March 2023.[105][106] Nearly all scheduled international passenger flights to Paraguay land atSilvio Pettirossi International Airport (ASU) near Asunción; in August 2025 the low-cost carrierFlybondi began operating a new route betweenBuenos Aires andEncarnación (ENO).[107]
Most itineraries between the United States and Paraguay route via at least one major hub in South or Central America, such asSão Paulo–Guarulhos in Brazil,Santiago in Chile,Bogotá in Colombia,Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia,Lima in Peru, orPanama City.[108][109] ASU also has direct services to bothAeroparque Jorge Newbery (AEP) andEzeiza (EZE) in Buenos Aires. Since late 2019,Air Europa has operated a nonstopMadrid–Barajas Airport (MAD)–ASU service, which expanded to daily flights in 2025; as of late 2025 this is Paraguay’s only direct air link to a destination outside theAmericas.[110][111] In May 2025,Paranair suspended its route between Asunción andGuaraní International Airport (AGT) near Ciudad del Este, practically eliminating the already limited options for domestic commercial air travel in Paraguay.[112]
No sitting U.S. president has ever visited Paraguay; former U.S. presidentJimmy Carter traveled there in 1993 to observe the country’s first widely recognized free and fair election after theStroessner regime.[113] PresidentSantiago Peña has made several trips to the United States since taking office in August 2023, including a visit to New York for theUN General Assembly in September 2025.[114] Peña commonly travels on a business jet operated by theParaguayan Air Force that Taiwan donated to Paraguay in 2019,[115] at times drawing criticism over whether it is necessary for the president to personally conduct diplomacy in faraway countries.[116]
United Nations data indicate that about 13.7 percent — roughly 890,000 people — of all Paraguayans were living abroad as of 2020, including approximately 46,000 in the United States.[117] Conversely, there is no clear indication of how many U.S. citizens currently reside in Paraguay; the U.S. Department of State estimated “more than 3,000” as of 2017.[118] According to U.S. Census and ACS data, concentrations of Paraguayan-born U.S. residents have existed inNew York,Florida, andNew Jersey.[119] Programs such asFulbright Paraguay andEducationUSA provide scholarships and advising for Paraguayan students enrolled in U.S. institutions, who numbered about 732 in 2023.[120][121] TheCentro Cultural Paraguayo Americano (CCPA, "Paraguayan-American Cultural Center") of Asunción, established in 1942, hosts English-language instruction, art exhibitions, and cultural events to strengthen bilateral ties.[122]
Paraguayan cuisine has not yet gained a significant following in the United States, amid rapid growth in popularity for the style ofsteakhouses that originated in neighboring Brazil.[123] U.S. media and restaurant reviews document very few restaurants devoted to Paraguayan dishes, such asvori vori andchipa guasu.[124]I Love Paraguay, in operation since 2007 inQueens,New York City, is the first wholly Paraguayan food establishment in the United States to remain in business for nearly two decades, and has received local media attention.[125] By contrast, U.S. food styles and brands are featured throughoutAsunción and Paraguay as a whole, illustrating a common pattern ofglobalization. Survey data[126] suggest thatMcDonald's andBurger King, in operation in Paraguay since the latter 20th century, have the most name recognition among consumers ofhamburgers, outpacing local brands like Pancholo's.[127]
While Paraguay has produced virtually no entertainers of worldwide fame who are active in the United States, Paraguayanaffinity for the harp has produced a number of artists who performed or settled in the U.S. as part of cultural exchange initiatives.[128][129] Paraguayan actressMaia Nikiphoroff is one of the few from her country currently active in the U.S. film industry to have attained leading roles.[130]Miguel Almirón plays professionalfootball forMajor League Soccer clubAtlanta United and is expected to compete in the2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be hosted in the United States,Mexico, andCanada, as a member of theParaguay national team.[131]Cristhian Paredes competes in MLS for thePortland Timbers.[132]
Morínigo broke relations with the Axis powers in February 1942, following strong U.S. diplomatic pressure.
By the late 1980s, our relations with Stroessner were very poor. The United States was prepared to see him go, having grown increasingly critical of his government's corruption and human rights abuses.
The region has tended to be on the backburner in U.S. policy calculations outside the prism of the Cold War.
The United States, more worried in the 1950s about finding anti-communist allies, now says it seeks to entrench democracy as a bulwark against communism.
"On the day of the coup … State Department spokesman Charles Redman said, 'We would welcome any genuine movement toward a more democratic form of government in that country.'"
"The President of the Republic … will remain five non-extendable years in the exercise of their functions … They may not be reelected in any case."
"There is no doubt that this election marks a turning-point … We would call it free and fair and democratic and successful," former President Jimmy Carter said.
"In addition, 65,000 people were displaced – 40,000 people on the Brazilian side and 25,000 people on the Paraguayan side."
"the Yacyretá eventually flooded 100,000 hectares of wilderness, displacing more than 80,000 people in both Argentina and Paraguay."
Hydropower capacity alone accounted for 8,810 MW, and renewables are the largest source of Paraguay's total energy supply.
Paraguay has one of the highest rates of tropical deforestation in the world, having lost a quarter of its net forest cover between 2000 and 2020.
USAID supports sustainable land management, reduction of deforestation, and renewable energy development in Paraguay.
The Trump administration promoted South American beef imports to balance domestic supply and support global trade realignment.
Chains such as Fogo de Chão and Texas de Brazil have expanded rapidly across the country, bringing Brazil's churrasco dining style to the American mainstream.
En la categoría de comida rápida (hamburguesas), McDonald's lidera con 68,4 % de recordación, seguido de Burger King con 15,1 % y Pancholo's con 8,4 %.
"El crecimiento de las grandes cadenas norteamericanas como Burger King y McDonald's … da la pauta del aumento por año del consumo de las hamburguesas."
"During the ceremony, Leite wore a Trump trademark 'Make America Great Again' cap."
En la fotografía se observa a Leite posando junto al presidente Trump, vistiendo una gorra con el lema 'Make America Great Again'.
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromU.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets.United States Department of State.
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