Editing Chaco War (section)

== Aftermath ==
[[File:Paz del Chaco.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Signatories of the 1938 Peace Treaty gather in Buenos Aires: [[Eugenio Martínez Thedy]] (Uruguay), [[Luis A. Riart]] (Paraguay), Tomás M. Elío (Bolivia), and [[Carlos Saavedra Lamas]] (Argentina).]]
When a ceasefire was negotiated for noon 10 June 1935, Paraguay had controlled most of the region. The last half-hour had a senseless shootout between the armies. That was recognized in a 1938 truce, signed in [[Buenos Aires]] in Argentina and approved in a [[Paraguayan Chaco Treaty referendum, 1938|referendum in Paraguay]] by which Paraguay was awarded three-fourths of the Chaco Boreal, {{convert|20000|sqmi|km2|order=flip|abbr=on}}. Bolivia was awarded navigation rights on the Paraguay and Paraná Rivers despite having been provided with such access before the conflict.<ref>Glassner, M.I., ''The Transit Problems Of Landlocked States: the Cases of Bolivia and Paraguay'', Ocean Yearbook 4, E.M. Borghese and M. Ginsburg (eds)., Chicago IL: University of Chicago Press, pp. 366–389</ref> Bolivia retained the remaining territory, which bordered [[Puerto Busch]].

The war cost both nations dearly. Bolivia lost between 56,000 and 65,000 people, 2% of its population, and Paraguay lost about 36,000, or 3% of its population.<ref>Hughes, Matthew "Logistics and the Chaco War: Bolivia versus Paraguay, 1932–1935" pp. 411–437 from ''The Journal of Military History'', Volume 69, Issue # 2 April 2005 p. 412.</ref>

Paraguay captured 21,000 Bolivian soldiers and 10,000 civilians (1% of the Bolivian population); many of the captured civilians chose to remain in Paraguay after the war.<ref name="QUE">de Quesada, Alejandro, ''The Chaco War 1932–35: South America’s Greatest Modern Conflict'', Oxford UK: Osprey Publishing Ltd, {{ISBN|978-1849084161}} (2011), p. 22</ref> In addition, 10,000 Bolivian troops, many of them ill-trained and ill-equipped conscripts, deserted to Argentina or injured or mutilated themselves to avoid combat.<ref name="QUE"/> By the end of hostilities, Paraguay had captured 42,000 rifles, 5,000 machine guns and submachine guns, and 25&nbsp;million rounds of ammunition from Bolivian forces.<ref name=SEV>Severin, Kurt, ''Guns in the 'Green Hell' Of The Chaco'', Guns Magazine, Nov. 1960, Vol. VI, No. 11-71, pp. 20–22, 40–43</ref>

Bolivia's stunning military blunders during the Chaco War led to a mass movement, known as the ''Generación del Chaco'', away from the traditional order,<ref>Gómez, José Luis (1988). ''Bolivia, un pueblo en busca de su identidad'' Editorial Los Amigos del Libro, p. 117. {{ISBN|978-84-8370-141-6}} {{in lang|es}}</ref> which was epitomised by the [[Revolutionary Nationalist Movement]], which led to the [[Bolivian National Revolution|Bolivian National Revolution of 1952]].

A final document to demarcate the border based on the 1938 border settlement was signed on 28 April 2009 in Buenos Aires.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.laht.com/article.asp?CategoryId=14919&ArticleId=333197 |title=Bolivia, Paraguay Settle Border Conflict from Chaco War |access-date=2009-07-02 |archive-date=2012-01-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119141613/http://www.laht.com/article.asp?CategoryId=14919&ArticleId=333197 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Over the succeeding 77 years, no commercial amounts of oil or gas were discovered in the portion of the Chaco awarded to Paraguay. However, on 26 November 2012, Paraguayan President [[Federico Franco]] announced the discovery of oil in the area of the Pirity River.<ref>[http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1530473-paraguay-encontro-petroleo-cerca-de-la-frontera-con-la-argentina "Paraguay encontró petróleo cerca de la frontera con la Argentina"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302043629/https://www.lanacion.com.ar/1530473-paraguay-encontro-petroleo-cerca-de-la-frontera-con-la-argentina |date=2 March 2019 }} [[La Nación]], 26 November 2012 {{in lang|es}}</ref> He claimed that "in the name of the 30,000 Paraguayans who died in the war," the Chaco would soon be "the richest oil zone in South America" and "the area with the largest amount of oil".<ref>[http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1533397-paraguay-asegura-que-tendra-la-region-petrolera-mas-rica-de-sudamerica "Paraguay asegura que tendrá la región petrolera más rica de Sudamérica"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121206053555/http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1533397-paraguay-asegura-que-tendra-la-region-petrolera-mas-rica-de-sudamerica |date=6 December 2012 }} La Nación, 4 December 2012 {{in lang|es}}</ref> In 2014, Paraguay made its first major oil discovery in the Chaco Basin, with the discovery of light oil in the Lapacho X-1 well.<ref>''[http://www.epmag.com/president-energy-finds-oil-paraguays-chaco-basin-757736 President Energy Finds Oil In Paraguay’s Chaco Basin]'', Bloomberg News, 20 October 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2018</ref>

Oil and gas resources extend also from the Villa Montes area and the portion of the Chaco awarded to Bolivia northward along the foothills of the Andes. Today, the fields give Bolivia the second-largest resources of natural gas in South America, after Venezuela.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.boliviafacts.net/economy-in-bolivia.html |title=Economy in Bolivia – Bolivia Economy – Bolivian Economy |access-date=2012-09-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120501085832/http://www.boliviafacts.net/economy-in-bolivia.html |archive-date=2012-05-01 }}</ref>