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One of the new features of the WAISworld.org website is an "Ask WAIS Experts" button, where the readers of our public website can pose questions to the 250-strong WAIS community. A couple of weeks ago I received this e-mail from China:

Dear WAIS:

I'm a 16 year-old girl from China and I have a few questions for you. I'd appreciate if you can help.

We know that Paraguay has suffered from terrorism for long. What specifically has the govenment done to deal with it? In order to achieve significant progress, what actions might and should be taken by the government in your opinion? Also, I'm desiring to know the relationship between Paraguay and the US.

I'm in the Model United Nation club, and I will represent Paraguay in March. The topic will be "Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism" and the committee is the General Assembly Legal Committee. Though I've researched some information and have written a position paper, I want to hear some experts' opinions.

Best wishes,

Weixin Yang

JE comments: Thank you for your question, Weixin! Your English is excellent, by the way. Though I am a Latin Americanist myself, I'm a bit weak on Paraguay, which in significant ways is the most unique Spanish-speaking country in the Americas.  It's officially bilingual with Castilian and Guaraní, and it has a long record of isolationism and autarky.  Moreover, the War of the "Triple Alianza" against Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay resulted in a near "final solution" annihilation of the Paraguayan male population.

Can anyone in the WAIS community address the question of terrorism?  I've heard anecdotal evidence that al-Qaeda is present in Paraguay, but the "terrorism" of Weixin's question may refer to the Paraguayan tradition of smuggling and marketing counterfeit handbags and electronics.

Finally, I'd love to hear more from Weixin about how the Model UN works in China.

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