African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1469 Chaco War
The biggest obstacle to the Asuncion-Lima railway is not the United States, but the relationship between Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay.

Here we have to focus on the country of Bolivia. It can be said that the relationship between Bolivia and its neighboring countries is that it has offended all the countries it can.

Originally, Bolivia's territory was about two million square kilometers, but except for Paraguay, four countries including Brazil, Peru, Argentina and Chile have snatched a lot of territory from Bolivia. Now, Bolivia and Paraguay actually have territorial disputes.

Therefore, Reyes said to Smith: "If you really want to sabotage the government's construction of the Asuncion-Lima railway, the best way to deal with it is to provoke relations between Bolivia and Paraguay. As long as the war breaks out, the railway will naturally not be built."

"However, I definitely won't do anything to instigate a war, but I believe you should be able to find a way."

After all, Reyes is a Bolivian, and his family is tied to Bolivia, so he is reluctant to be the first to take the lead, but he also helps his collaborator Smith with advice.

Smith also knew Reyes' difficulties, and he was unwilling to give up Reyes, his partner of many years. Since Reyes could not be moved, Smith could only think of a solution on his own.

"To stir up trouble between Paraguay and Bolivia?" Smith pondered.

Any attempt to sow discord between the two countries is nothing more than creating a major conflict of interests between Bolivia and Paraguay.

Smith easily thought of the territorial dispute between Bolivia and Paraguay over the Chaco region.

The Chaco region, also known as the Gran Chaco region, has a total area of ​​more than 600,000 square kilometers. Bolivia and Paraguay have disputes over the ownership of the northern part of the Chaco region, namely the North Chaco region.

This is actually a mess, because to be honest, the Northern Chaco region does not belong to Bolivia or Paraguay at all. According to the logic of Western colonists, it is "no man's land."

During the Spanish colonial rule, there were naturally not so many messy things. At that time, most Latin American countries such as Paraguay, Bolivia, etc. were Spanish territories.

After the end of Spanish rule, chaos arose. Although various colonial regions became independent one after another, the issue of territorial division was not clear at the time of their independence, because before independence these colonies had small populations and relatively small areas under their control.

For example, in Chile, the only area under actual control at the beginning was the Santiago River Valley, and the white people in Argentina were concentrated around Buenos Aires...

After all, Spanish colonial rule itself was centered around major strongholds.

After the independence of Latin America, the areas actually controlled by these newly established countries were not large in the first place, and only later expanded to the periphery along with the population.

Therefore, the territorial issue between Bolivia and Paraguay is actually the result of the two countries' encounter after expanding into the Northern Chaco region at the same time. Before that, there was no actual ruler in the Northern Chaco region. If you have to count, there are only local Indian tribes.

However, these are not what Smith is concerned about. His idea now is to use the Northern Chaco region to intensify the conflict between Bolivia and Paraguay. In this way, the Asuncion-Lima railway will naturally not be built.

Suddenly, Smith had an idea. He remembered that the company seemed to have an oil exploration project in the Northern Chaco region. He remembered that experts said that there might be oil in the Northern Chaco region. So could he make something of this?

Smith himself was from Standard Oil, but he was responsible for the entire Bolivian business, and oil exploration in the Chaco region was only part of their work in Bolivia.

Moreover, they have not confirmed 100% that there is oil in the area, but this is not important now. There must be oil in the Northern Chaco region, abundant oil, and oil resources that can cause a fight between Bolivia and Paraguay.

Smith said to Reyes: "It just occurred to me that our company's resource exploration work in the Northern Chaco region may be used as an introduction to provoke conflict between Bolivia and Paraguay."

"Oh!" This aroused Reyes' curiosity, because the Northern Chaco region was actually a piece of bad land, sparsely populated, and with almost no products worth noting. To be honest, it was not worth it for the two countries to fight for this piece of land.

It is also for this reason that although Bolivia and Paraguay have had disputes over the Northern Chaco region in recent years, both sides have kept the risks within a controllable range and there have only been some minor frictions.

Therefore, Reyes was naturally curious about how Smith could use the Northern Chaco region to sow discord between the two countries, intensify conflicts, and even provoke a war between the two countries.

Smith also explained his thoughts. He said to Reyes: "In fact, at the beginning of this year, our company discovered a large amount of oil in the Chaco region. This has been confirmed by experts. Do you think we can use this as a starting point to intensify the conflict between Bolivia and Paraguay?"

Although he spoke with great confidence, Smith knew very well that this was just a lie to fool Reyes. Currently, Mobil Oil's speculation on whether there is oil in the Northern Chaco region is only 50%, and the credibility is only 50%, which means that maybe there is oil, maybe there isn't. This is almost like metaphysics.

Perhaps only Emperor Ernst of the Rhine Empire on the other side of the ocean knew clearly that there were indeed oil resources in the Northern Chaco region, but the reserves were not particularly abundant.

In the past, Bolivia and Paraguay went to war over the oil resources here, resulting in more than 200,000 casualties. The two countries had small populations and poor economies, so the losses were heavy.

Seeing Smith so confident, Reyes believed his lies.

On the one hand, he instinctively believed that Smith would not lie to him. After all, the two were an alliance of interests. On the other hand, he did know that Mobil had resource exploration activities in the Northern Chaco region.

Therefore, he believed that Smith's statement was completely reasonable, and since "oil" had been discovered in the Northern Chaco region, the problem could be easily solved.

He said excitedly: "If this is the case, then our room for maneuver will be much greater. After all, no country will have too much of a resource like oil!"

With the advancement of the Second Industrial Revolution, the automobile industry and the internal combustion engine exploded, and the demand for oil resources by countries around the world, especially those industrial countries, also increased.

However, oil resources have always been a relatively scarce and unevenly distributed resource. Today, most of the world's oil-producing areas are controlled by East Africa, followed by the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom. Except for these four countries, there is no other superpower that does not lack oil.

Of course, for the great powers, they pay more attention to their own energy security issues, so it is particularly important to find oil resources that are not controlled by the above four countries.

The scarcity of oil resources, its wide range of uses, huge demand, and excellent prospects have made oil a resource with stable and stable returns. In other words, if oil with mining value can be discovered, there will be no shortage of markets and sales, and thus endless wealth can be obtained.

Bolivia, a country that can fight a war with Chile over "saltpeter", can naturally also conflict with other countries over oil resources.

What is more important is that although Bolivia was often beaten by other countries in the last century, it was not afraid of Paraguay, a small country that was not much stronger than itself.

Paraguay is indeed a small country compared to Bolivia. In terms of population, Bolivia has about 2.5 million, while Paraguay has less than 1.5 million. In terms of land area, Bolivia has more than 1 million square kilometers, while Paraguay has only 220,000 square kilometers.

Bolivia's population is nearly one million more than Paraguay's, and its land area is several times larger than Paraguay's. Reyes couldn't imagine how Bolivia could lose!
Smith wrote a blank check and said, "Now, all we need is for you, brother Reyes, to personally take action. I believe you will be able to make this happen. This is good for you, me, and Bolivia. When the time comes, when we develop oil resources, you will definitely have a share, and Bolivia will be able to confirm its sovereignty over the North Chaco region."

As Reyes is Bolivia's Minister of Resources, Smith believes that as long as Reyes helps them endorse it, the Bolivian government will definitely believe that there is "oil" in the Northern Chaco region.

Reyes also thought so. As for the Asuncion-Lima railway, which is beneficial to the country and the people, it can still be built as long as Paraguay is defeated. After all, the defeated country has no choice. He does not think that Bolivia cannot defeat the "weak" Paraguay.

Yes, even though Reyes has a close relationship with Smith, he does not think that the Asuncion-Lima railway will be aborted. Bolivia must build this railway.

The war only delayed the start of the construction of this railway. Once the war is over, the Asuncion-Lima railway will still be built.

Moreover, as long as Bolivia wins, they will not only be able to obtain the land in the Northern Chaco region and the "oil" resources under the land, but also gain more initiative in the construction of the Asuncion-Lima railway and open up Bolivia's access to the Atlantic Sea. This is a win-win situation.

He said to Smith: "I will negotiate with the government now to strive for the sovereignty of the Northern Chaco region. I hope that Brother Smith can contribute more strength at that time."

The Standard Oil Company behind Smith is a big company with great influence in the United States.

In response to Reyes's thoughts, Smith assured him, "Don't worry, brother Reyes. The interests of the United States and Bolivia are consistent, and we will definitely stand on Bolivia's side."

After all, Paraguay is East Africa's most loyal brother in Latin America, so it is impossible for the United States to support Paraguay, a pro-East African country.

……

Soon, Reyes reported on the situation in the Northern Chaco region at a government meeting.

"Mr. President, the Northern Chaco region covers an area of ​​260,000 square kilometers, and it has now been confirmed that the region has rich oil resources. Therefore, I believe that Bolivia cannot continue to wait."

"We should take advantage of the fact that Paraguay hasn't discovered it yet and quickly send troops to occupy the entire Northern Chaco region, so as to monopolize the local land and oil."

"If Paraguay also gets the news in the future, it will be difficult for us to easily take over the Northern Chaco region!"

President Hernando and other Bolivian senior officials also fell into deep thought after listening to Reyes' analysis.

Many officials expressed their support for Reyes. After all, the Northern Chaco region has become a "gold mine" in their eyes.

However, President Hernando was a little hesitant. He said: "But we have recently tried to contact the Paraguayan government to cooperate on the Asuncion-Lima railway. If a conflict occurs at this time, will it be..."

Reyes interrupted, "Mr. President, we should not hesitate at this time. We should prepare for war. It will not be too late to build the Asuncion-Lima railway after the war is over."

"After all, Paraguay is very weak. If our army defeats them, we can not only take over the entire Northern Chaco region, but also force them to share the right of passage. If we add this to the post-war terms, we can even take this opportunity to control the Asuncion-Lima railway section in Paraguay in the future."

In the early 20th century, it was very common for one country to control the railways of another country. For example, many railways in the Far Eastern Empire were controlled by other countries, and they even stationed troops along the railways.

Therefore, Bolivia can also treat Paraguay like a colony, of course, on the premise that the subsequent war can be won.

Reyes' idea finally convinced the vast majority of the government. Like Reyes, they did not believe that the small country of Paraguay could defeat Bolivia unless Paraguay could win over a powerful ally.

However, Paraguay’s relations with its neighbors are also not good. They can only rely on East Africa, but Bolivia can also rely on the power of the United States, so the Bolivian government believes that the advantage is on their side.

Most of the government supported the war, and Hernando had no choice but to agree.

As the Bolivian government began to mobilize, Smith also began to mobilize, reporting the situation to the company and contacting the U.S. ambassador in La Paz.

Soon, with the help of him and the US ambassador to Bolivia, the US government and Bolivia reached some military order contracts. At the same time, Bolivia also hired German officers to intensify military training.

At the same time, with the support of the US government, Mobil deliberately spread the news of the existence of "oil" in the Chaco region, especially in Paraguay.

After all, the US government's goal is to prevent the construction of the Asuncion-Lima railway, so they do not want the war between Bolivia and Paraguay to become one-sided. It would be best if the two countries could remain in a long-term stalemate, with neither side being able to do anything to the other. In this way, the Asuncion-Lima railway would become a bubble in a short time.

At the end of 1928, after four or five months of preparation, nearly Bolivian troops brazenly entered the Paraguayan-controlled area in the Northern Chaco region and captured Paraguayan border outposts.

This undoubtedly angered the Paraguayan government. The Chaco War officially started ahead of schedule, and the Paraguayan government urgently sent a distress signal to East Africa to obtain support in weapons and supplies.

(End of this chapter)