Puerto Iguazú: History

Pre-20th-Century History

The Guaraní-Tupi group, the native inhabitants of La Triple Frontera, moved east of the Andes some time in the first millennium AD. The Guaraní, who speak a different language to the Tupi, supplied the name of the falls: Iguazú means 'great water'. While modern geology points to the raised basalt shelf of the Paraná plateau as the origin of the falls, Guaraní legend has a more romantic explanation: a river god, jealous of a pair of escaping lovers, caused the river to collapse beneath their canoe.

The first European to visit the area was the Spanish explorer Sebastian Cabot, who charted the course of the Paraná in 1527; Gonzalo de Monedoza was the first to record contact with the Guaraní, in 1537. Traditionally nomadic, they began to live a more settled existence following contact, a process sped up by the arrival of the reducciones de los indios - the missions set up by the Jesuits to 'civilize' the natives.

From the foundation of the first reducción in 1609, a network of these self-contained communities spread across present-day Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil. The Jesuits' intentions appeared benign - whilst saving Indian souls, they also aimed to save their corporeal beings from slavery and exploitation. The reducciones were run on communistic principles, and their residents achieved full literacy before any other communities known to history. They developed a creole language, combining Tupi, Guaraní, Portuguese and Latin, that is still spoken in remote pockets today. The province of Misiones was named in recognition of the reducciones , which declined with the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767.

The importance of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers to this region is reflected in its name - Región Mesopotámica (or 'Mesopotamia', from the Greek for 'land between two rivers'). Argentina, partially independent from Spain during the South American Wars of Independence, first claimed sovereignty over Misiones in 1814 (although the region was largely autonomous before 1830). Claimed by several of the countries that emerged from colonial rule, Misiones continued to be the object of dispute: Paraguay, ostensibly acting in the interests of its Guaraní majority, invaded in 1838 and 1865. The latter action triggered the disastrous War of the Triple Alliance, in which Paraguay fought to a standstill, lost more than half its population and was eventually forced to make great territorial concessions to Brazil and Argentina (both allied to Uruguay).

Once Misiones was securely part of the Argentine Republic, the process of colonization and development began in earnest. This was aided by the Immigration and Colonization Law of 1876, which promoted immigration from Europe, and is largely responsible for the significant French heritage in the province. Logging and the cultivation of yerba mate , a gentle stimulant native to the region, became two of the principal industries.

Modern History

Argentina's national consolidation and growth in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was intimately connected to its rise as an exporter of agricultural goods. Primarily, its fortunes were built on wheat and cattle farming. The remote subtropical jungles of Misiones, however, presented different challenges and opportunities. Largely undeveloped at the end of the 19th century, it was the influx of assisted migrants from Europe (notably Spain, France, Italy and Germany) that allowed forestry, paper, yerba mate and tobacco to develop as major industries.

With an eye to historical symmetry, Puerto Iguazú was founded as Puerto Aguirre in 1901. Its original name honored a family of local worthies, one of whom, Victoria, was so taken with the Falls that she set aside some of her fortune to build access paths. Today, the town's main strip is named after her. Puerto Iguazú's fortunes accelerated with the growing stream of visitors to the wondrous falls, which boomed after the formation of the Parque Nacional Iguazú in 1934.

While sheltered by its isolation, Misiones shared in Argentina's violent fluctuations of fortune during the 20th century: the ongoing military coups, dictatorships, corruption and economic crises.

Recent History

Today, Puerto Iguazú is largely a tourist town: if it wasn't for the visitors, it would be just another sleepy frontier outpost. Tourism to Argentina declined in the early 2000s, thanks to the violent unrest that followed the IMF-forced devaluation of the Argentine peso. Thankfully, exacting remedial measures have worked, and both the Argentine economy and its important tourism sector have recovered.

While Andean ski resorts and Atlantic beaches are the most popular destinations, the towering natural attractions of Iguazú are also exerting their powerful pull once more. The majority of businesses clustering the streets around the central bus terminal are oriented towards serving tourists. There's no shortage of places to drink and, while small compared to that of Foz do Iguaçu, there is some nightlife to speak of. Sadly, the local economy is not very robust, as the number of mendicant street kids attests.

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