When the proposal to dollarize the economy once again took center stage in Argentina's 2023 presidential election, the H2FOZ revisited the memory of when this measure was in force and its impact on the border, with the collapse of Puerto Iguazú, in the 1990s. The lesson is that economies in crisis do not recover with artificial means.
Last year, coverage of President Javier Milei’s early moves showed challenges knocking on the door of the neighboring city. Rent prices nearly doubled in addresses in the commercial center, under federal measures, and the focus of early decisions at the national level was on currency and financial mechanisms, not production.
The report returned to Puerto Iguazú in June 2025 and found the city once again suffering from the exodus of visitors. Tourist activity is falling and shopping in the shops has declined, due to high prices, which make a menu complete without wine – starter, main course and dessert – costs R$250, and a box of alfajor costs R$45.
High prices are driving Brazilians and Paraguayans away from Puerto Iguazú. And that's not all. Even with the reduction in inflation, according to the Buenos Aires authorities, unlike when it climbed above 100% under Peronism, the Argentine population does not have purchasing power, which reduces their consumption capacity.
This result is due to the federal government seeking to control inflation with artificial mechanisms, reflects analyst and professor of International Relations, Pablo Friggeri. “Unemployment in the country has increased, goods are expensive, and the value of wages has fallen,” he explained in the special report by Denise Paro.
Integrated as it is, the trinational region often feels the effects of the problems that affect its cities, which rarely have repercussions limited to a single territory. The experience of living in the Three Borders, after all, will not be complete if it does not include Ciudad del Este, Foz do Iguaçu and Puerto Iguazú.
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In addition to the narratives in the editorial, it failed to address the difficulties that neighboring authorities impose on Brazilian tourists. They require up-to-date identification documents, our driver's license has no value, health insurance, etc.