A6 Meeting: Public Presentation

Border Comparisons

Here are aerials of different dry-land border cities . The first three are cities along the Brazil-Uruguay border. All these cities have grown around the border, just as many cities grow along a main axis. I have arranged them from most to least "border-developed".

Rivera is the best known free trade zone in the Gaucho border. Its main source of income has been the tax-free shopping, so much so that after going into a Uruguayan cafe for a soda, the owner said, "Gracias, buenas compras!"












Xuí is the southernmost city in Brazil. It is the final stop before Uruguay for those traveling along the Atlantic coast of Brazil. Much like Rivera, it has developed along its major commercial avenue that sits on the Brazil-Uruguay border. The Avenue is the center of their own free trade zone.











Aceguá is also on the border between Brazil and Uruguay, about sixty kilometers south of Bagé. It did not have a free trade zone and has been very underdeveloped in its urban quarters. Its most successful developments are actually many miles outside the urban zone in the form of co-ops and horse farms. In 2007 the free trade zone was announced in the city and there is speculation that the city will turn into another shopping area for Brazilian Gauchos. So far, it is a distribution point for smuggled produce into Uruguay.











Just for the sake of comparison, here is Tijuana. The severe cut between the US and Mexico is such a stark contrast with the seamless border between Brazil and Uruguay that one must wonder how this "fronteira" has not been exploited more thoroughly yet.

Images of Aceguá

Aceguá is the city I intend on using as my project site. It has lived off its position on the Brazilian-Uruguay border and has recently been granted a free trade zone. I was surprised to find that the city had not changed much since the first time I passed through three years ago. I was also surprised to find an elaborate, albeit meager, contraband operation dealing Brazilian produce into Uruguay. My cameras called attention to the popcorn vendor, who happened to be a look-out, and he eventually interrogated me about my presence there. I played the dumb tourist, but still left rather fast with all my incriminating photage.

On the way back to Bagé, we passed through a German colony between the two cities called Colonia Nova. It was established as a cooperative in the 1950s by German immigrants producing dairy goods. I will post more information on the co-op later.