Análise do processo de industrialização Via Maquilas em Pedro Juan Caballero – Departamento de Amambay – (Paraguai)

Abstract

Paraguay's socio-economic and spatial formation process is marked by specific and determinant events that range from its colonization under Spanish rule and its respective dictatorships, as well as the war conflicts materialized in the War of the Triple Alliance (1864/1870) and the Chaco (1932/1935). Since then, the country has had a little diversified economy, being dependent on and based on the exportation of agricultural products and the sale of electricity to its neighbors. In this context, Law No. 1,064 entitled “De la Industria Maquiladora de Exportación”, which was regulated in 2000, was sanctioned in 1997. This normative density is now considered the international “window” of Paraguay, as it is a programmatic action that, deliberately, attracts foreign companies (direct investment) to operate in Paraguayan territory, guaranteeing tax exemption and exemption, as well as tax, labor and tax benefits. Paraguay appears as a kind of regional hub. Keeping those assumptions in mind, the main objective of this work is to analyze the industrialization process in Paraguay, produced from the installation of the maquilas, specifically in the city of Pedro Juan Caballero, capital of the Department of Amambay and twin city with Ponta Porã, in Mato Grosso do Sul (BR). We specifically analyzed the government guidelines used to support this deliberate action, as well as the instruments, speeches, practices and normative densities used to establish this policy. To this end, we rely on an integrated approach to Paraguay's industrial policies, conducting a survey of legislation regarding policies and programs to encourage the industrialization process, bibliographic survey, as well as fieldwork with the models installed in Pedro Juan Caballero and also in the e-mail addresses of government agencies both of the Department of Amambay (PY) and of the pedro-juanine municipality. Our conclusion points out that the process of installing maquiladoras in Pedro Juan Caballero's territory takes place in accordance with the factors arising from the economic globalization process and that the industrial model of the “maquiladora” now implemented appears as a productive bet for the economy of Paraguay. We also found that there are several interinstitutional initiatives taking place at the border with a view to promoting this region to this productive strategy, with the Paraguayan State and the private sector being the main organizers of this process. Our results also indicate that the municipality of Pedro Juan Caballero spatially concentrates Maquilas in the Department of Amambay, therefore a punctiform process. And even more, the pedro-juanine maquilas are of Brazilian origin, showing the strong presence of Brazilian capital in the “maquila” regime of this border.