But Galeria Page is special. The owner of Galeria Page is a member of the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah, who apparently uses the Galeria as a front for all kinds of illicit activities -- such as money laundering, trafficking, and organizing of terrorist activities.
I knew that Hezbollah (and the Chinese mafia) had found Ciudad del Este to be a friendly place for their evil operations, but all the Chinese I talked to said the mafia had come and gone with the fortunes of this frontier town. That is to say, since business started souring about five years ago, the mafia has seemed to have left the area. But I had no idea where Hezbollah was -- nor did I particularly have any good way of asking. Despite living in the Lebanese part of town (Two shawarma and hookah cafes, "Edificio Lebanon" a block from me, as well streets "Mohammad Hussein Taiyen" and "Rahal Canan"), the last thing I was going to do was ask my neighbors if and where Hezbollah was in Ciudad del Este.
Anyways, I started talking with two Brasilians who worked in the area, and they brought up Galeria Page as the center for Hezbollah activity. Of course, I had to pay a visit -- it wouldn't exactly be guarded by terrorists armed with AK-47s (although a guard or two with shotguns is standard in CDE) -- as I learned in Ciudad del Este, organized violence is bad for business, and worse yet, draws official attention to the city. Better to keep things discreet and under the table.
I tried to locate the Galeria Page a few times, but even after asking around for it, I was unable to find it. It was simply far too anonymous for me to find by myself; few people could recall what street it was on, and if they did, there were far too many signs to be able to distinguish it.
Finally, I found out that Mr. Huang, a major figure in the Taiwanese community in Ciudad del Este, happens to own a business very near Galeria Page. I asked him what he thought about his neighbors, simply saying that there were suspicions they were involved in "bad activities." He simply said, "I don't know, I don't want to know. I've been here for over twenty years, and I've done perfectly fine here."
Perfectly fine indeed. I visited his house, located in a private neighborhood called the "Parana Country Club," where Ciudad del Este's wealthy own sprawling mansions within a guarded, gated community. I'm hesitant to post photos here, but Mr. Huang's place (not exactly a house, nor a mansion, but a giant building) was so big, that at first I couldn't believe it was actually a house. Perhaps even more ostentatious was the house he built for when his "mother or guests come visit," as big as the mansions in Concord, Massachusetts. I think there must be some sort of contest going in the Parana Country Club, because even though the house was enormous, most of it seemed empty and unfurnished. But like most things Chinese, it is perhaps all about "saving face," or perhaps showing it off, of putting on a beautiful facade and showing off your success, especially in a commercial city like Ciudad del Este.
But now I'm getting off topic. I believe my only interaction with my Hezbollah hosts was when I asked permission to photograph their hookahs (permission denied), but being the intrepid photographer that I am, I took a photo, no, TWO photos anyway! Eventually the angry/suspicious stares won over, however.
In other news, "The Devil's Throat" (Garganta del diablo) is the most stunning area of Iguazu Falls, the part that lies on the Brazilian/Argentine border. Funny how accurate it seems to describe some of the illicit activity around here. Here are some photos of the Devil's Throat, which are not stolen from Google images, taken with my very own camera, straight from inside the throat of the devil.
Brasilian webpage with a list of accused Hezbollah members in the Tri-border area.
BBC page (unfortunately, in Portuguese... can't seem to search in English here in Brazil!) on the same topic.
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