Triple Frontier

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The Triple Frontier should not be confused with Tres Fronteras, at the common border among Brazil, Peru, and Colombia.

View from the Argentine side of the border.

The Triple Frontier (Spanish: Hito Tres Fronteras, English: Three Borders Landmark, Portuguese: Tríplice Fronteira) is the tri-border area along the junction of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil near the cities of Ciudad del Este, Alto Paraná; Puerto Iguazú, Misiones and Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná respectively. This area is the location of the Iguazu Falls, which comprises the world's largest waterfalls, and the Itaipu, the world's largest hydroelectric plant.

1 Population
2 Tourism
3 Crime
4 References
5 See also

[edit] Population

The population in the Hito Triple Frontera is concentrated in three interacting border cities. In 2001 Ciudad del Este was the largest city, with a population of 240,000, while the smallest — Argentina's Puerto Iguazú — had a population of 28,100. The Brazillian tourist-centric city Foz do Iguaçu has a population of 190,000. The Arab and other Asian immigrant communities, which make up an important part of the urban population in the Tri-Border Area, are estimated to number approximately 50,000.^[1]

[edit] Tourism

At the Hito Tres Fronteras, the Iguazú and the Paraná rivers converge. It is an important tourist area, within the touristic subregion of the Región de las Aguas Grandes, with key hydroelectric resources. Visitors can see the Tancredo Neves bridge, which connects the Argentine city of Puerto Iguazú and its Brazilian neighbor, Foz do Iguaçu.

At this landmark, one can see all three countries simultaneously. Furthermore, a visitor can see an obelisk in each country, painted with the national colors of the country in which it is located. Also, there is an artisanal fair at this landmark, where one can buy artisanal and artistic works characteristic of the surrounding area.

[edit] Crime

The frontier is very lightly-guarded and serves as a haven for car theft, counterfeiting, arms and drug trafficking, smuggling, money laundering, and other illicit activities.

In 2002, and again in 2006, the United States Treasury Department mentioned in a memo that there are "clear examples" of Islamic groups in the region that "finance terrorist activities". Groups like Egypt's al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and Al Qaeda are believed to draw some of their funding from activities in the Triple Frontier^[2].

In addition, the Paraguayan side of the Triple Frontier serves as a haven for terrorist operations as that nation has no anti-terrorism laws. Thus, financially contributing to terrorist organizations is not punishable by law. Suspected terrorists are instead aprehended under tax evasion and other charges of similar nature.

In response to the situation, a military training agreement with Asunción (Paraguay), giving immunity to US soldiers, caused some concern after media reports initially reported that a base housing 20,000 US soldiers was being built at Mariscal Estigarribia^[3]. On October 2006 Paraguay decided not to renew such immunity.

On 16 June, the governments of the three nations stated they would set up a joint intelligence centre in Foz de Iguazu specifically to monitor the situation.^[4]