According to Tauli Corpuz:
Almost half of the indigenous communities informed me that they lacked land and even when they have property titles, the security of owning land is not guaranteed.
Unequal land distribution has been a serious problem in Paraguay since the 19th century, and things got even worse in the last half of the 20th century, particularly under the dictatorship of General Alfredo Stroessner. Much of the country's state-owned land was given to friends and allies of Stroessner, and there are land reform disputes over those areas continuing today.
When industrialized agriculture and soy farming became widespread in Paraguay during the 1970s, many small farmers were pushed off of their land.
In 1996, the Monsanto corporation began planting genetically modified soy seed in Argentina, which shares a border with Paraguay. Soon after, GM soy farming also began in Paraguay, and the country has now become the fourth largest exporter of soy in the world.
Although the GM soy farming operations in Paraguay generate huge profits for Monsanto and other large corporations, very little of that money is distributed within the country, since these companies are exempted from paying taxes.
Meanwhile, the indigenous people of Paraguay continue to suffer and are almost helpless to do anything other than stand by while their lands and traditional way of life are destroyed by greedy corporations and the corrupt politicians who serve them.
As a report by TeleSURtv.net observed:
Paraguayan farmers and indigenous communities are not only suffering from one of the most unequal distributions of land, but also from the invasion of one of the worst agricultural models: soy exportation, mechanized agriculture, and genetically modified seeds all combined together.
And this is a tragedy that is not limited to Paraguay or South America, for that matter. Similar problems are occurring in Africa and elsewhere -- and even in the United States.