Editing Chaco War (section)

=== Arms embargo and commerce ===
The [[Bolivian Army]] was dependent on food supplies that entered southeastern Bolivia from Argentina through [[Yacuíba]].<ref name=Hughes>Hughes, Matthew. 2005. ''Logistics and the Chaco War: Bolivia versus Paraguay, 1932–1935''{{ISBN?}}</ref> The army had great difficulty importing arms purchased at [[Vickers]] since both Argentina and Chile were reluctant to let war material pass through their ports. The only remaining options were the port of [[Mollendo]], in [[Peru]], and [[Puerto Suárez]], on the Brazilian border.<ref name=Hughes/> Eventually, Bolivia achieved partial success since Vickers had managed to persuade the British government to request Argentina and Chile to ease the import restrictions imposed on Bolivia. Internationally, the neighboring countries of Peru, Chile, Brazil, and Argentina tried to avoid being accused of fueling the conflict and so limited the imports of arms to both Bolivia and Paraguay, but Argentina supported Paraguay behind the neutrality façade. Paraguay received military supplies, economic assistance, and daily intelligence from Argentina throughout the war.<ref>Abente, Diego. 1988. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/165790?seq=2 Constraints and Opportunities: Prospects for Democratization in Paraguay]. ''Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs''.</ref><ref>''La ayuda argentina al Paraguay en la guerra del Chaco'', ''Todo es Historia'' magazine, n° 206. julio de 1984, pág. 84 {{in lang|es}}</ref><ref>Atkins, G. Pope (1997) ''Encyclopedia of the Inter-American System''. Greenwood Publishing Group, p. 71. {{ISBN|0313286000}}</ref>

The [[Argentine Army]] established a special detachment along the border with Bolivia and Paraguay at [[Formosa Province]] in September 1932, called ''Destacamento Mixto Formosa'', to deal with deserters from both sides trying to cross into Argentine territory and to prevent any boundary crossing by the warring armies,<ref>Gordillo, Gastón and Leguizamón, Juan Martín (2002). ''El río y la frontera: movilizaciones aborígenes, obras públicas y MERCOSUR en el Pilcomayo''. Biblos, p. 44. {{ISBN|978-950-786-330-1}} {{in lang|es}}</ref> but the cross-border exchange with the Bolivian army was banned only in early 1934, after a formal protest by the Paraguayan government.<ref>Gordillo & Leguizamón, p. 45</ref> By the end of the war, 15,000 Bolivian soldiers had deserted to Argentina.<ref>Casabianca, Ange-François (1999). [http://www.portalguarani.com/obras_autores_detalles.php?id_obras=14017 ''Una Guerra Desconocida: La Campaña del Chaco Boreal (1932–1935'')] Editorial El Lector. {{ISBN|978-99925-51-91-2}} {{in lang|es}}</ref> Some native tribes living on the Argentine bank of the Pilcomayo, like the [[Wichí people|Wichí]] and [[Toba people|Toba]] people, were often fired at from the other side of the frontier or strafed by Bolivian aircraft,<ref>Gordillo & Leguizamón, p. 43</ref> and a number of members of the Maká tribe from Paraguay, led by deserters, who had looted a farm on the border and killed some of its inhabitants, were engaged by Argentine forces in 1933.<ref>Figallo, Beatriz (2001). ''[http://lasa.international.pitt.edu/Lasa2001/FigalloBeatriz.pdf Militares e indígenas en el espacio fronterizo chaqueño. Un escenario de confrontación argentino-paraguayo durante el siglo XX]''. p. 11. {{in lang|es}}</ref> The Maká had been trained and armed by the Paraguayans for reconnaissance missions.<ref>Capdevila, Luc, Combes, Isabel, Richard, Nicolás and Barbosa, Pablo (2011). ''Los hombres transparentes. Indígenas y militares en la guerra del Chaco''. p. 97. {{ISBN|978-99954-796-0-2}} {{in lang|es}}</ref> After the defeat of the Bolivian Army at Campo Vía, at least one former Bolivian border outpost, Fortin Sorpresa Viejo, was occupied by Argentine troops in December 1933, which led to a minor incident with Paraguayan forces.<ref>Campbell Barker, Eugene and Eugene Bolton, Herbert (1951). Southwestern historical quarterly, Volume 54. Texas State Historical Association in cooperation with the Center for Studies in Texas History, University of Texas at Austin, p. 250</ref><ref>Estigarribia, José Félix (1969).''The epic of the Chaco: Marshal Estigarribia's memoirs of the Chaco War, 1932–1935''. Greenwood Press, pp. 115, 118</ref>