Stories of Japan

     In my book Snap Shots, there are essentially five stories that are set in Japan and Okinawa.  You will have to bear with me for separating Japan and Okinawa, but because Okinawa was not part of Japan when I was there, I prefer to keep the two apart.  However, those five stories in Snap Shots are not the only ones that I wrote and published about Japan and Okinawa.  I first published a literary essay on a Japanese novelist back in 1972.  Since then, I have written numerous articles and stories about Japan in a variety of publications.  I am telling you about my previous writings not to boast but to show that Japan and Okinawa had been, and still are, very fertile grounds for story material!  Even with my modest experience and knowledge, I could spend a lifetime writing on various topics involving that part of the world.  Invariably, the most interesting topics always involved people, interesting characters!
     In the five hunting stories in the Snap Shots, I do not mention anything about the acquisition of hunting licenses.  The reason was because it varied so dramatically from one era to the next, from Okinawa to Tokyo.  On Okinawa (before the reversion!) it was a pretty simple affair to get a hunting license.  It cost all of $1 in the 1950s and the price was increased to $2 in the 1960s.  You only had to go to Naha main police station and pay the fee to get the license. There was no test or any complicated process.  In Japan it was a bit different.  In the 1950s it was relatively simple, more or less like on Okinawa, a simple matter of going to the nearest police station and filling out a form and paying a small fee, more than on Okinawa, but still fairly modest.  By the 1960s this process became a bit more complicated and cost more.  By the time I got back to Tokyo in 1979 to work at the embassy, the process became mind-boggling and cost a small fortune!
     I arrived in Tokyo in May of 1979.  In September I decided to check on the process of getting a hunting license since the season began on the 1st of November.  I discovered that it was an incredibly complicated and long process, that was expensive to boot!  You  first had to take a lengthy written exam and also a visual game recognition test, all of which took an entire day.  The following day you had to go out to a firing range and demonstrate your knowledge of safe gun handling, which also included shooting at clay targets.  You had to hit at least 50% of your targets or you flunked!  If you passed all of that, you were issued an elaborate certificate (like a diploma) for which you had to pay about $250 (this was in 1979, it is much more now!).  This was a National Hunting Certificate.
     This National Hunting Certificate was good for 3 years, but it did not allow you to go hunting, it only allowed you to apply for permission to hunt at a prefecture (Japan does not have states or counties, instead the country is divided into prefectures, which are more or less like counties here in the U.S.).  In other words, you had to apply for each prefecture separately where you wished to hunt for an annual permit.  Being a small country, in order to have any luck hunting, you would have to secure permits for a number of prefectures, at least three or four!  It would also cost you for each permit!  Each prefectural permit cost around $100!
     I managed to survive the two day exam and paid my $250 fee and had the fancy National Hunting Certificate in hand.  But now, I had to apply for the prefectural permits.  I was complaining to a friend one day about the expense and the difficulty in getting set up for hunting in Japan.  My friend had been at the embassy for several years already and knew everyone.  He suggested that I seek out the help of Nukazawa-san, the most senior Japanese employee at the American Embassy.  It seems that Nukazawa-san worked in the Consular Section and headed the Protocol Office as well.  My friend told me that Nukazawa-san knew everything there was to know about navigating the complicated Japanese bureaucracy!  So, I sought out Nukazawa-san and found myself facing an impressive looking gentleman in his late 50s or early 60s.
     He was tall for a Japanese, about 6 feet and with a ramrod straight posture.  I told him I needed help in securing prefectural hunting permits and he simply asked to which prefectures I wanted to apply.  I was surprised at his perfect American English, no accent what so ever.  I gave him the names of the three prefectures surrounding Tokyo, and to my surprise, he suggested three more, saying that if I got a permit for Chiba-ken, I should also get one for Ibaraki, and so forth.  I agreed, I wasn't going to argue with him.  He had such a commanding presence about him that it seemed foolhardy to go against whatever he said!  I gave him all of my documentation, my diplomatic ID, etc.  He made copies of all, then returned them to me and said that he would take care of everything.  
     Next day I got a copy of the letter that he had written to accompany all of my documents and the applications to the several prefectural offices.  The letter was hand written in beautiful calligraphy, using very formal Japanese, requesting the permits and the waiver of fees!  A week later, I started to receive the prefectural permits, free!  A total of eight prefectural permits that would have cost me a small fortune, had it not been for Nukazawa-sans impressive, formal letter!  I went to his office and thanked him for his help, and he simply waived it off gruffly.  I couldn't resist asking him where he learned to speak English so perfectly, and to my surprise, he told me he was born in the U.S.A.!  His story was fascinating, as I was to learn.
     Nukazawa-san was born and raised in Seattle, Washington!  He graduated from university and earned a law degree.  Upon receiving his law degree, he decided to visit relatives in Japan before he buckled down and got into law practice.  This was just prior to the Pearl Harbor attack!  Like so many Japanese-Americans, he was stuck in Japan when the war started.  The Japanese government insisted that he, along with other Japanese-Americans who were in Japan either visiting or studying, were all Japanese and subject to Japanese laws.  He was drafted into Japanese military like most other male Japanese-Americans in Japan, in his case it was the Imperial Navy.  According to him, life was miserable for Imperial Navy recruits, especially if they were Nisei (Japanese-Americans)!  The NCOs used to beat them constantly with a baseball bat that had Yamato Damashi (Japanese Spirit) written on it!  Then one day, all of the Nisei recruits who were college graduates were called-in to the COs office and told that they were going to be sent to Officer's Training Program.  Their life would be much better as officers, explained the CO.  They would no longer be harassed and beaten as they were, almost daily.
     According to Nukazawa, most were only glad to get out of their miserable circumstances, himself included.  There were, however, a few who refused to accept commissions.  He said he doesn't know what happened to them, they just disappeared.  At the time, Nukazawa knew, as a lawyer, that accepting a commission in an enemy armed forces was considered an expatriating act and subject to loss of nationality. But he said that he was so miserable, that he didn't care, was only glad to get out of the terrible situation.  After receiving a commission, he was assigned to the Naval Headquarters in Tokyo (because of his English and knowledge of law!) but then, after a year assigned to the staff of Admiral Yamamoto!  He became Yamamoto's staff aid and accompanied the Admiral wherever he went, except for that one trip, the one that Yamamoto took when he was shot down!
     At the end of the war Nukazawa had reached the rank of Commander.  He had never seen any combat, was always in headquarters, in the rear area.  When the war ended, he was initially held by the U.S. forces, then released.  Shortly afterwards, when the American Embassy was reopened, he was notified that he had lost his U.S. citizenship because he had served with the enemy forces.  Nukazawa didn't fight it, being a lawyer he knew that he had committed an expatriating act according to U.S. laws.  Ironically, a few months after he had received his Certificate of Loss of Nationality, he received another letter asking him to come to the American Embassy for an interview.  When he went to the embassy, he was offered a job, as a Japanese national employee!  Good  jobs were almost impossible to find in those days, so Nukazawa was only thankful, and took the job without a thought!
     When I met him in 1979, he was the most senior Japanese employee of the American Embassy in Tokyo.  Our rules dictate that no one in an Embassy can have a salary that is greater than that of the Ambassador.  At that time, Mike Mansfield, former Majority Leader of the Senate was our Ambassador, one of the most senior Ambassadors that we had.  Nukazawa's salary was $1 less than that of Mike Mansfield's!  Nukazawa ultimately received a U.S. Immigrant Visa upon his retirement.  A faithful employee of a U.S. diplomatic mission, an embassy or consulate, can receive a Special Immigrant Visa as a reward for many years of faithful service.  Nukazawa certainly qualified for it so he received it, and five years later became a naturalized U.S. citizen!  I find that a bit odd....the U.S. government would have been better off not taking away his citizenship in the first place, if he was going to get it back later!  During the time he worked for the American Embassy, he travelled often back to the states with a Japanese passport with a tourist visa to visit friends and relatives back in the states!  What a world we live in!
 
    

"Boat People" on Okinawa and Green Pheasant at Pizza House

     Having spent all of October thus far blogging about Paraguay in South American,  I am now going to zip across the Pacific Ocean to spend the last three days in Japan.  Sort of a magic carpet ride back to the past, about 8 years before Paraguay!
     From 1979 to 1981 I was assigned to the American Embassy in Tokyo.  At the time, the American Embassy in Tokyo was just about the largest embassy we had in the world, only London was as big, I think!  The embassy had over 800 employees, and Japan in the early 1980s was, although expensive,  an exciting place to be.  For both Jo and me, having been in Japan before, it was like a homecoming, we felt very comfortable.  Then in the early winter of 1981, about seven months before the end of my tour, I got an opportunity to travel all over Japan, something that I would not have been able to do on my own, it would have been just too expensive!
     Shortly after New Year of 1981, embassy Tokyo received word that a Refugee Officer from the newly created Refugee Affairs Office in the State Department was coming to Japan at the invitation of the Japanese government to tour the 20 or so Vietnamese refugee camps that were scattered about Japan!  Up to this point, very few in the embassy were even aware of the fact that there was a refugee camp in Japan, let alone more than 20!  The Washington visitor was to be accompanied by an officer from the Gaimusho (Japanese Foreign Ministry), an officer from the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), and  embassy Tokyo was to provide an officer to accompany them.
     The purpose of the tour was to determine how many of the Vietnamese refugees ("boat people") were eligible for relocation to the U.S.  The criteria for eligibility for relocation to the U.S. was that they had to have worked for the U.S., either with the U.S. government (military or civilian) or a U.S. based or sponsored volunteer agency.  The Gaimusho officer was our host and the Japanese government funded everything, first class, I might add!  The UNHCR officer was to determine if a particular refugee was indeed a political refugee, not an economic refugee simply seeking a better life.  The Japanese were anxious to get rid of the "boat people" that landed on their shores.  They split them up into small groups and scattered them from Hokkaido down to Okinawa, in isolated areas so that they would not be "visible" to the general public.  No camp held more than 100 refugees, some were as small as may be 20 people.  The one in Okinawa was the largest with a bit over 100 people.
     At the time, West Germany and Japan had the most stringent and unreasonable requirements for refugees to qualify for resettlement in their countries.  Both countries required that the refugee who wished to resettle in their country had to be fluent in their language, both spoken and written.  They had to pass a very tough test on the history, culture, and various other topics.  In short, there was no way an average refugee could fulfill such requirements without intensive study for a couple years!  The most lenient countries were U.S., Canada, and Australia.  France was pretty lenient on the requirements as well.  Considering that France was also responsible for the mess in Vietnam, they probably should have been even more lenient!
     My role was somewhat fuzzy.  I suppose I was there to simply show the flag, so to speak, represent the American Embassy.  I had no role in interviewing anyone.  Before my departure, the Deputy Chief of the Mission, a wonderful old school gentleman, took me aside and told me to "enjoy the trip," have a good time at the expense of the Japanese government!  Then he added, "keep an eye on the Refugee Officer, don't let him do something stupid!"  I wasn't too sure what he meant by that.  Anyway, the four of us left Tokyo, first flying north to visit some camps there. Afterwards we visited camps in the central part of Japan and then took the shinkansen (bullet train) south and visited camps in the southern part of Japan.  Our final stop was Okinawa, before we flew back to Tokyo.
     The refugee camp on Okinawa was located on Motobu Peninsula where the Expo was held in 1970.  The refugees were housed in the dormitories that were built for the Expo for the housing of the Expo staff and workers.  For a refugee camp, it was pretty nice.  They were simply living in apartments, no tents or shacks.  Of course, none of the camps in Japan were made of tents and shacks, Japanese would not have considered such housing!  Many of the refugees on Okinawa wanted to resettle in Japan and complained about Japan's unreasonable requirements.
     I listened in on as many interviews that I could, the ones that were conducted by the UNHCR officer, an exceptionally bright and talented young woman.  Some of the stories that I heard were absolutely horrific, especially the experiences of young women when they were captured by South China Sea pirates!  The fact that some of them survived such horrors is a testament to human resilience and strong survival instincts.  One particularly attractive girl told her horror story of how she was forced to become a sex slave of the pirate captain in order to survive!  The pirates had killed all of her family members!  She managed to survive by being his sex slave for something like three months, then escaped one night by slipping overboard.  She floated at sea on an inner tube for three days (she wasn't sure exactly how many days) without food or water, before getting picked up by a Japanese fishing vessel.  That is how she ended up in Japan.  She was all of seventeen!
     Everyone in the group knew that I had lived on Okinawa, so, the night before we left the island they asked if I could take them to some restaurant, something "different."  We had been primarily eating Japanese food, since the Washington visitor insisted on staying in Japanese style hotels only.  The Gaimusho officer was there to accommodate, no doubt with instructions to do whatever was necessary to get Washington to take as many "boat people" as possible, so we stayed in Japanese hotels and ate Japanese meals.  On the final night, everyone, including the Gaimusho officer, was ready for something different, so they all turned to me, the only one in the bunch who had been on Okinawa before.  So, I suggested that we go to the Pizza House and have some pizza, to which everyone agreed immediately.
     Anyone who was on Okinawa anywhere between 1960 and the 1980s will no doubt remember the Pizza House in Oyama, a popular hang out on the weekends for many Kubasaki-ites! When I took my little group to the Pizza House in 1981, it was almost exactly as it was 20 years earlier!  Of course I'd been on Okinawa and in Pizza House in the late 1960s as well, but basically, everything was the same. The only difference was that there was now an American hostess to greet you at the door, no doubt a wife of someone stationed with the military.  Even the menu appeared to be the same, only the prices were now in yen instead of dollars.  As we were leaving, I noticed that by the cash register there was the stuffed green Japanese pheasant, the very same pheasant that was there in the late 1960s! 
     There's a story behind that old stuffed bird!  I shot that pheasant as a kid while hunting in Japan.  It was the first pheasant that I shot so I had it stuffed.  Before I left Okinawa in the early 1960s, I gave that bird to an Okinawan worker who admired it when we were being packed out.  The bird had somehow become infested with some sort of moth-like insects.  I didn't think it was salvageable, so although I hated to part with it, I gave it to the Okinawan worker.  When I returned to Okinawa in 1966, I saw this pheasant in Pizza House.  I asked the owner where he got the bird and he said that he bought it off an Okinawan who worked on a US government installation.  Obviously the man managed to get rid of the insect infestation somehow, probably by simply spraying it with insecticide, something that I suppose I could have done also!  It was quite a surprise to see it then, in the late 1960s, but it was even a bigger surprise to see it in 1981, perhaps a bit shabbier, but still OK!
     So, if any of you were in Pizza House that was located in Oyama between 1960 and the 1980s and noticed a stuffed green pheasant by the cash register, it was mine, and it originally came from Ibaraki-Ken on Honshu where I shot it as a kid in 1956!  I understand that the Pizza House has moved, it is no longer in Oyama, but it is still on Okinawa, and hopefully my pheasant is still there by the cash register.

Contraband and Stolen Goods Economy

     It seems I have spent the entire month of October blogging on Paraguay.  Obviously Paraguay had, and probably still does have, many things taking place that would encourage discussion!  Aside from having disreputable and mysterious characters, gangsters, fugitives, and terrorists within its borders, Paraguay, at least back in the 1980s (I am told it really hasn't changed!), was a country that had its economy based on contraband and stolen goods!  American cigarettes cost 25 cents a pack when they were almost a dollar stateside!  A bottle of Johnny Walker Red Label scotch could be purchased for $3!  In fact, Paraguay was the second largest exporter of scotch whiskey in the world, after Scotland, of course!  After getting their contraband booze and cigarettes, much of the stuff was re-exported to Arab countries!
     In Snap Shots, in a short story called "The Gun Collector" I mention that all sorts of goods were stolen and brought into Paraguay to be sold locally or re-exported.  Aside from guns, cars were very popular stolen goods, stolen from neighboring countries like Brazil and Argentina.  Actually, the largest number of stolen cars came from Brazil, straight from the factory! The most popular stolen car was the VW bug.  The VW bug (the original, not the current imposter!) was discontinued in Germany and no longer sold in Europe or imported into the U.S. by the 1980s.  However, it is still made at the VW factory in Brazil and sold all over Latin America.
      In Paraguay, it seems there was a pipeline of stolen VWs from Brazil.  Paraguayan law permitted registration of these stolen VWs, which were issued special license plates that allowed the owner to drive it legally in Paraguay, but could not be exported to another country.  Many members of the U.S. Embassy bought these very inexpensive, but excellent VWs and used them during their time in Paraguay, mostly as their second car.  I bought one of these "legal-illegal" VW bugs from a friend who was leaving the country. 
     I bought the car for our daughter Natalie, who was a senior in high school at the time.  Our family car was an Oldsmobile, a large American car that Natalie's friends called the "Yank Tank."  The Olds was parked in the drive way and the VW bug was parked on the street in front of the house.  Since our armed guard was stationed in front of the house 24/7, theoretically the VW didn't even have to be locked, but Natalie kept it locked anyway. 
     About six months before we left Paraguay an incident occurred that deserves mention.  I alluded to this incident in an earlier blog when I mentioned that a "keystone cops" affair took place involving our guard.  By this time, I had been collecting a lot of information on suspected Arab terrorists and I did not receive any more death threats from the Chinese Triads.  However, instead I received a threatening call from someone with a Middle Eastern accent.  The call was taken by a Marine Guard who said that the callers spoke with what he though was an Arabic accent.  This was duly reported to Washington and the Embassy Security Officer put everyone on alert for possible Arab terrorist activity.
     Then one night just before midnight, the Marine Guard received a call from what sounded to him like an Arab who said "something" bad was going to happen to me.  The Marine reported it immediately to the Security Officer who was at home in bed!  Shortly after that, about 3 in the morning, the Embassy's roving patrol went by my house and as they drove up, spooked two men who were fiddling with doors on the VW bug that was parked out front but fled when the roving patrol approached.  They got out of their vehicle and searched for the guard that was supposed to be there, but he was no where to be found.  At this point they called their supervisor to report what they encountered, and the supervisor called the Embassy Security Officer, once again getting him out of bed.
     We were sound asleep in our bedroom, which was upstairs.  Our dog Brandy was in the bedroom with us, also sound asleep.  Down the hall from us, in her bedroom, Natalie was asleep.  Downstairs, in a separate unit outside the kitchen door, our maid Sunnie was also sleeping.  This was during Paraguayan summer, which is very hot, and our window air conditioners were going full blast.  If you remember the old style window air conditioners, there was no thermostat!  If you turned them on, they stayed on until you turned them off or they broke down.  The air conditioners were noisy and running full blast.  We didn't hear anything.
     The Security Officer left his house and got additional reinforcements and joined the roving patrol.  Having earlier been briefed by the Marine Guard about the threatening phone call, he naturally assumed the worst.  The fact that our guard was missing, I am sure he expected  to find a bloody massacre!  As he told me later, he actually expected to find dead bodies!  Since the roving patrol had a set of keys for my house, they proceeded to enter the house, very carefully!
     I woke up to the sound of someone calling out, over the din of the air conditioners, "Is anyone home?" "Anybody home?"  I got out of bed and went down stairs with Brandy padding along.  Brandy was no doubt thinking that I was taking her for a walk in the yard! When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I found myself facing a group of heavily armed embassy security personnel led by the Security Officer! 
     The Security Officer was obviously relieved to see that I was alive!  He asked if everyone else was OK and I said that as far as I knew, everyone was fine.  I went back upstairs and checked in on Natalie, who was asleep, then both Jo and I checked on our maid Sunnie, who was also fine.  Just about then, our guard reappeared.  When asked why he wasn't at his post, he admitted that he went to pay a call on his girl friend.  He also said that he knew that a couple of men were trying to steal the VW, but he didn't stop them.  Instead he said he hid and watched them, then when they left, he took off too - to visit his girl friend!  I couldn't quite follow the reasoning in his explanation, but next day asked that he be removed from guarding my house.  In fact, I asked that no guard be posted, since it was obvious that an armed guard served no purpose, except to be a pain in the neck.
     Paraguay, what a country!  Jo and I often reminisce about Paraguay and the improbable things that happened while we were there, and Natalie still remembers fondly her first car, that "legal-illegal" VW bug!
    
    

A Haven for Fugitives, Triads, and Arab Terrorists

     When I began the blogs on Paraguay, I mentioned that aside from Nazi fugitives and Chinese Triads, there were all sorts of disreputable characters living in that country.  There were several known terrorists from the Balkans living in Paraguay, not even attempting to hide their identity.  There were also, Arab terrorists in the hinterlands, outside of Asuncion, as I was to find out later.
     During my gathering of information on the Chinese Triad, I began to hear about strange settlements or "camps" that were heavily guarded, large estancias (ranches) that were occupied by "turcos."  To most Paraguayans and indeed, to most South Americans, anyone of middle eastern background was simply a turco (Turk),  just as any Asian was normally a chino!  Perhaps today with more exposure, and constant news coverage of troubles in the middle east, the term arabe is more widely used, but back in the day, it was turco.  Many of my Paraguayan informants, especially those from the countryside, often confused the chinos with turcos when it came to information about illegal activities of foreign groups.  The Great Circle Gang had processing labs and other secret sites outside of Asuncion, and often these locations were near other secret sites that belonged to Arab groups.
     The difference appeared to be that the Triad's secret labs, although guarded by armed men, were places where activity took place indoors, inside large sheds and buildings.  The Arab camps or sites were military type training area!  Men were spotted practicing weapons firing, using explosives, and other military training.  Additionally, these Arab camps had buildings that were used as barracks, either newly constructed or old ranch workers sleep areas.
     The largest concentration of newly arrived Arab population in Paraguay was located in the tri-border area (near the border of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay) in a town called Ciudad del Este (the East City) where large mosques were constructed and men and women in Muslim garb were seen moving about the city.  The camps, however, were scattered about all over the countryside, although the majority seemed to be in the eastern part.
     I kept receiving unconfirmed reports of strange activities of turcos in the hinterlands.  Then, amazingly, there was a newspaper article about a large estancia (ranch) that was purchased by a Libyan group headed by a relative of Kaddafi.  The article went on to say that the secluded property was going to be used as a religious retreat!  This was too much, so I started reporting on whatever information that came my way about the activities of Arab groups in Paraguay. 
     Shortly after the appearance of the newspaper article in the Asuncion paper about the Arab "religious retreat," the U.S. Embassy received two visa applicants that sent off alarm bells.  Two men showed up bearing passports from a small South Pacific island nation of Tonga.  They claimed to be Tongans and they did, somewhat resemble Fijians or Tongans with their dark complexions and curly black hair.  They said that they were Tongan businessmen, going to the U.S. to conduct business. They were even appropriately dressed in bright colored flower print shirts!  However, they spoke English with an Arabic accent, and they looked more like they were from the Middle East rather than the South Pacific!  When asked to say a few words in Tongan, neither could utter a sound!  They were no doubt sent to the U.S. Embassy to test the grounds, so-to-speak.  Many of our posts have a reputation for being "easy" for getting a visa, so I guess they wanted to find out!
     That incident was duly reported and, at least the U.S. Embassy in Paraguay became aware of the fact that there were Arab terrorist groups in that country, up to no good and trying to get to the U.S.  As more information came to us, it became apparent that the Arab groups were planning to infiltrate into the U.S. by way of Mexico, entering illegally with other Latin illegal border crossers.  There were some in Washington who were no doubt very skeptical about the information and the reports were generally "deep sixed," disappeared into some black hole!  This was back in 1987-88, some 26 years ago!
     Back in 2008 or 2009 our embassy in Paraguay started reporting that they had come across information that Hezbollah, Al Qaida, and several other Arab terrorist groups had established training sites and other "businesses" in various locations in Paraguay, most notably in the eastern part, in the tri-border area.  There were some alarm bells and some congressmen insisted that we do something about it.  Of course, nothing was done.  In the meantime, the Arab newspaper Al Jazeera ran a long piece, more of an editorial, mocking the U.S. claims that Arab terrorist organizations existed in Paraguay.  The Al Jazeera reporter claimed to have interviewed the imam at the mosque in Ciudad del Este and said that the Muslim population in Paraguay was a peaceful, law abiding group.  Supposedly, under pressure from the U.S. government, the Paraguayan Special Forces conducted numerous operations and raids into Arab settlements and found nothing to indicate that terrorist activities were taking place.  First of all, I would question the competency of the so-called Paraguayan Special Forces, just because they are called "special" doesn't mean anything!  Secondly, I doubt if any such operations actually took place.  They are expensive and time consuming to plan and conduct, and the Paraguayan military has neither the means nor the will to conduct such operations, especially if the Arabs are paying "rent."
    The Paraguayan government, as it was in the past, is a corrupt entity!  The Paraguayan military, which is, of  course, controlled by the government, is corrupt as well.  It is a known fact the current and all of the past Paraguayan presidents have been in bed with the drug cartels.  Despite their seeming cooperation with the U.S. (they have to put on a show to continue to receive our millions!), they neither like nor really cooperate with U.S.!  The average Paraguayan may not really care one way or another, and most would give anything to get hold of that prized U.S. visa so they could come to America.  But the government, and the rich and powerful are a different story.  The rich and the influential all have U.S. visas.  They regularly come to Miami to do their shopping or send their children to schools in America.  But that doesn't necessarily translate to being pro-American.
     So, I have no doubt in my mind that the Arab terrorist groups are flourishing in Paraguay.  Why shouldn't they?  They essentially receive government protection, as long as they can pay the right people!  Paraguay is a small, landlocked country that is only a little bigger in size than the state of Arizona, with about the same size population.  It is a poor country that has survived for generations on contraband and stolen goods economy.  It has never been able to produce any kind of a sustaining industry.  Small wonder then that the country depends on not just illegal goods, but illegal people, criminals, fugitives, and Arab terrorists!
    

Women of The Great Circle Gang

     Before I launch into this blog, let me clarify something that I failed to do in the last blog.  I ended the last blog with the mention of death threats that I received and the security that was provided for me.  I said that I had abandoned the use of the armored vehicle and body guards for my commute to work after a few days.  This was done not because I was brave, or for that matter foolish.  I dropped that part of the security because I felt certain that the Triad would not try to kill me.  I retained the guard on the house and the roving patrol because, after all, I had my family to think about and just in case something was to happen, at least the armed guard and the roving patrol would serve as deterrents.
     Let me explain something about the Chinese Triads.  If they indeed wanted to kill me, they would have done so without any warnings or threats.  It is not their "style" to send threats to their targets before carrying out a "hit!"  I believe those death threats were sent by the Great Circle Gang just as a warning for me to "lay off!"  If they wanted to, they could have killed me any time.  It just didn't make sense for them to do so, they had already drawn enough attention on themselves.  On the other hand, they may have tried to pull off some "harassing" acts on my house and family, therefore, I kept the other part of the security.
     The Embassy's roving patrol was supervised by our Security Officer so it was competent.  The Paraguayan Army guard on my house was another story.  He may have been armed with a fearsome looking submachinegun, but I doubt seriously if he even knew how to use it.  He was a pain in the neck.  We had to feed him all his meals, and he often disappeared for hours to visit with his girl friend or buddies at his barracks!  There was an incident later that was funnier than the "keystone cops" involving our "armed" guard, but that's another story!
     So, back to the Triad.  The Great Circle Gang was in a sense like those roving bands of brigands in Manchuria, the "hoonhoozy" (hung hu tzu).  Generally the Triads, like the 14K, are well organized, very secretive, and just shadowy figures who stay out of public sight and limelight.  The Great Circle Gang was more like the "hoonhoozy," they didn't seem to care if anyone recognize them.  They were brazen and often involved in violent activities.  However, as more information was gathered, it became evident that the 14K was the big boss in many ways, at least in Paraguay. Yet, at the same time, the Great Circle Gang appeared to be independent.  It was somewhat puzzling.  With their supposed leader "Johnny" Kon Yu Leung arrested in New York, they were leaderless, still they functioned, carried on with their criminal activities as if nothing had happened to their leader. 
     It wasn't long before I discovered that in many ways, the two mistresses of the Minister of Interior Sabino Montanaro were somehow "supervising" the activities of the Great Circle Gang in Paraguay.  The beautiful twins who looked more like fashion models were named Betty and Vicky.  The twins were born in Hong Kong and were named after the British Queens Victoria and Elizabeth!  Of the two sisters, Betty appeared to be more active as a "leader."  The whole improbable story of the Great Circle Gang in Paraguay sounded like fiction to begin with, but now with the discovery that two beautiful women, who were also the mistresses of the Paraguayan Minister of Interior, were the leaders of this gang, the whole scenario appeared like a figment of someone's wild imagination. 
     The two sisters had appeared at the U.S. Embassy to apply for a U.S. visa with their Paraguayan Diplomatic passports.  They were refused visas of course, but not before everyone got a chance to see the two stunning women.  The Embassy Marine Security Guards really got a kick out of seeing these women.  They were not accustomed to seeing women that appeared as if they had just walked straight out of the pages of Vogue magazine!  Seeing them, it was not surprising to hear that Montanaro was complete "putty" in their hands!  But I also suspect that they were the ones that initiated the death threats after they were turned away from our embassy without getting their visas!
     Then, in many of the documents that I had received from my Nationalist Chinese friend Joseph, the two women's names kept appearing.   Yue King Fong and Chui Ping Cheng appeared to play a prominent role in the Great Circle Gang activities in Hong Kong and other parts of Asia.  At first I thought perhaps that somehow they were the Chinese names of Betty and Vicky, but then, they were sisters so they should have had the same family name.  As more information was gathered, it became clear that these two women, also described as beautiful and always fashionably dressed, were older than Betty and Vicky.  However, they were such shadowy figures that it wasn't clear just who they were and Hong Kong Police did not seem to have any record of them.  Then finally an informant, a former Triad member, appeared who clarified this confusing situation.  The two women were the leaders of the Great Circle Gang, the most violent gang among all Triads at the time!  No one seemed to know where they came from and whether they were from Hong Kong or from the mainland, or perhaps they were overseas Chinese!  It was obvious that those weren't their real names, since they seem to use different names on some occasions!  But it was also obvious that they were much feared by not just their subordinates, but other Triads as well!
     After I left Paraguay, in the Winter of 1988 while in Ecuador, I got a surprise visit from a Detective Chief Inspector and a Detective Inspector, both from Hong Kong Police's Special Gang Unit.  The two, a Brit and a Hong Kong Chinese, wanted to talk to me about the Great Circle Gang!  Apparently they had been in the U.S., in Washington, consulting with the U.S. Police and FBI and DEA about the Great Circle Gang and in the process had come across my reports on the gang's activities in Paraguay!  On the way back to Hong Kong they decided to stop by Ecuador to talk to me!  So, apparently my reports did not just disappear into some dark hole in the foggy bottom of Washington!  They confirmed my earlier findings that the Great Circle Gang was run by women, not just out of Hong Kong, but in Paraguay as well!

Triad's Counterfeit Industry

     The Great Circle Gang's drug trafficking and human smuggling was well known.  It was considered their main occupation by most.  However, there was another side of their illegal business empire that was not quite so violent or vicious, it was the distribution of counterfeit products.  Everyone, at least in Paraguay and surrounding areas, was aware that the Chinese in Paraguay had a thriving business in fake "Rolex" watches.  These watches, that at a casual glance were dead ringers for the real Rolex watches cost anywhere between $5 to $15 U.S. back in the 1980s.  No one really thought much about it.  However, the fake Rolex watches were just a scratch on the surface, there was a much larger and more insidious counterfeit operation that was run by the Triad.  While the fake Rolex watches were somewhat shoddily made and could be easily spotted upon examination, there were other brand names that were much better made, much harder to detect as fakes!  In most cases, parts were made and brought in from Hong Kong and assembled in Paraguay before distribution.
     The primary market for these counterfeit products was the United States and the various fashion houses in New York and other large cities.  Clothing was a big business.  Expensive label clothes, both men's and women's were made in Paraguay with imported fabrics from Hong Kong.  There were factories set up in Asuncion that made clothes with fancy labels and shipped to the United States.    Those made in Paraguay were indistinguishable from those made in the U.S.A. but sold at a fraction of the cost.  Expensive women's purses, shoes, Gucci, Channel, and half a dozen other brands were also made in Paraguay, using the same quality leather as the originals.  They too were indistinguishable from the real versions.  Those that ended up being somewhat "shoddy," the "seconds" of the counterfeit industry, ended up being sold on the streets not in the fashion houses.
     I learned of this from the "horse's mouth," so to speak, someone who worked for the counterfeit fashion industry in Paraguay, who turned informant.  When I interviewed him, he was dressed in a beautifully tailored Pierre Cardin suit that looked to be worth about three times what I was wearing!  He also had on a beautiful pair of Gucci loafers and a beautiful brand name watch with a genuine lizard skin wrist band!  He told me that everything that he had on was being sold in the U.S. through legitimate fashion houses as originals!  He said that the cost price of everything he had on was around a $100, and it would sell for much, much more in the U.S.!  According to him the Triad had contacts within various fashion houses who were buyers and sold them their counterfeit goods.  "Johnny" Leung's ill-fated trip to New York was primarily to arrange for a wider distribution network for counterfeit goods! 
     Initially I thought that the profits from counterfeit goods would be a fraction of what the Triad earned in narcotics and human trafficking.  But according to Luk Pong Ki, the accountant who was caught and was singing loudly, the counterfeit business earned as much for the Triad as the other businesses.  It also became clear that the counterfeit business was in fact controlled by 14K who had a monopoly on it in Hong Kong.  Those who have been to Hong Kong are aware how easy it was (and still is) to find counterfeit brand clothes, shoes, purses, whatever, in that city.  Apparently, the 14K always controlled that business in Hong Kong and now was partnered with the Great Circle Gang for distribution of these goods into the United States, by way of Paraguay.
     It didn't take long to gather information, both from informants and the Nationalist Chinese Embassy, to put together a comprehensive picture of what was going on with the Great Circle Gang as well as 14K in Paraguay.  The main reason was that they had been operating so freely, had worked their way into all of the influential circles in Paraguay, that they feared no one and actually, in some cases, did not even try to hide their illegal activities.  They were brazen in their activities and no doubt felt "bullet proof."  After all, why shouldn't they?  They had everyone in the government in their pockets, starting with the president Alfredo Stroessner!
     A lengthy and complete report of the Triad activity in Paraguay, together with a comprehensive list of names of Triad members, was sent to Washington.  At the same time, all Foreign Service posts were notified to be on the lookout for ethnic Chinese with Paraguayan Diplomatic passports.  They were to be denied U.S. entry visas should they appear at the U.S. diplomatic missions in other countries.
     Once word got out that we were interested in information about the Chinese Triad, informants began to appear, those who were disaffected by the Triad.  A few Paraguayan government officials who had been on the take, had apparently been cut off, so they were willing to talk.  But the more reliable sources were the Chinese themselves who were willing to inform for a variety of reasons, everything from revenge to personal gain.  So, it was not surprising that within a short space of time, once we started gathering information on the Triad, the Triad found out about our interest.  I was first told by my Nationalist Chinese Embassy friend Joseph that their intelligence found out about the Triad knowing about our interest in their activities.  Shortly after that, I started receiving death threats.  An armed guard (Paraguayan soldier) was posted in front of my house 24/7 and I was required to commute to work in an armored vehicle accompanied by armed body guards.  An embassy roving patrol of armed guards came by my house every few hours, 24/7.  After a few days I reverted to going to work in normal fashion. I felt that I was a bigger target riding around in a armored vehicle with body guards!  So, that part was dropped, but the 24/7 armed guard and the roving patrol continued for over a year, for the rest of the time I was in Paraguay.

The Great Circle Gang and the 14K

     The first known head of the Great Circle Gang in Paraguay was Wong Ming, a violent sort!  Wong Ming initially went to Sao Paolo, Brazil to set up the South American operation.  But there he ran into trouble with the Japanese Yakuza as well as some Brazilian gangs, so he moved to Paraguay.  It was Wong Ming who sent his hit men to kill the "boss" of the competing Triad in a bloody shootout at a steam bath.  However, it apparently got him into trouble with his bosses in Hong Kong. The man that he had killed so publically was the head of a minor gang, but in fact it was a gang that paid "tribute" to the 14K Triad, an old and powerful organization out of Hong Kong that apparently had a "branch" in Paraguay.
     The Chinese criminal gangs have numerous layers that are tightly kept secrets which confuses the outsiders.  It is very difficult to determine who really is the boss!  The name Great Circle Gang applies to the "soldiers" of this particularly violent and powerful Triad.  The "soldiers" were made up of former People's Army and Red Guards.  It wasn't clear at all as to who the real boss or bosses were and if there even was a name for the organization!  The "soldiers" were most visible element and they were called the Great Circle Gang, also known as the Great Circle Boys!  Obviously, the leaders of the organization who were probably older, would not be called boys!  Whatever the case, the supposed head of the "soldiers" in Paraguay, Wong Ming got into trouble with the leadership and disappeared.  A few months later Taiwanese intelligence reported that he had resurfaced in Beijing!  A new leader of the Paraguayan Triad appeared, or at least he was supposed to be the new head.  "Johnny" Kon Yu Leung was a young, good looking, well dressed man who looked more like a successful businessman than a gangster.  He was often seen with a very attractive, fashionably dressed, mysterious woman who seem to travel about freely between Asia, South America, and the United States.
     Shortly after the supposed take over of leadership of the gang by "Johnny" Leung, it became apparent that the Great Circle Gang had partnered with an old and very powerful Triad known as the 14K.  The 14K had its roots going back to Ching Dynasty and were at one time rivals of the Green Gang which founded the Nationalist Party, the Koumintang.  The 14K, it seemed, had been in Paraguay for some time and had established a respectable front.  The El Banco Paraguayo Oriental (The Oriental Bank of Paraguay), more popularly known as "el banco chino" (the Chinese bank) or "el banco de coca" (the cocaine bank), as well as several large businesses were owned by the 14K who filled the Board of Governor's positions in the banks with Paraguayan government officials - the list read like the who's who of Paraguayan government!  Obviously, laundering illegal money was not a problem.  Millions upon millions of drug money passed through those banks!
     The 14K was one of the most powerful Hong Kong Triads, and it was soon revealed that the Paraguayan Consul in Hong Kong was the son of the 14K head in Paraguay who happened to be the President of El Banco Paraguayo Oriental, Chan Hung Choi.  Chan's entire family was in possession of Paraguayan Diplomatic Passports!  So, the connection between the 14K and the Great Circle Gang became clearer.  Apparently, the Great Circle Gang or Boys were "soldiers" of the 14K, or so it seemed.  The Great Circle Gang did all the dirty work, drug running, human smuggling, prostitution, etc., and the 14K "supervised" from a distance, never close enough to get caught.
     The Great Circle Gang's most popular mode of smuggling drugs was to put them in canned goods that were coming out of Brazil and other South American countries.  The heroin arrived from the Golden Triangle in Burma, transported on Paraguayan flag ships.  They were then prepared for shipment to the United States, sometimes by way of Europe, sometimes directly from South America.  Canned goods such as gourmet items like hearts of palms or other exotic fruits were a very popular vehicle.  After all, it would be very hard to detect narcotics that are in a sealed can!
     The Great Circle Gang apparently was under orders to expand, so their Paraguayan leader "Johnny" Leung travelled to the United States in the company of a mysterious woman who had been seen with "Johnny" in other countries.  Soon it was learned that "Johnny" together with this woman had been in Tokyo and Osaka, meeting with Japanese businessmen, no doubt with the Yakuza!  However, "Johnny" ran into some bad luck.  While he was in the U.S., Luk Pong Ki, the accountant for the Great Circle Gang was caught and brought to the U.S.  Luk Pong Ki, not being a hardened criminal, spilled the beans under pressure and told the DEA that "Jonny" Leung who was in New York at the time, was the head of Paraguayan Great Circle Gang.  "Johnny" was immediately arrested in his hotel room in New York, but amazingly, his female companion was nowhere to be found!
     The more Luk Pong Ki talked, the more it became apparent that the Great Circle Gang had spread its tentacles world wide.  There were elements of the Great Circle Gang all over the place, New York, San Francisco, just to name two cities in the U.S.  They were also established in Canada, in Vancouver and Toronto and in cities in Europe as well.  In all these cities they allied themselves with other Chinese gangs in the area.  In San Francisco, for instance, they were tied with the notorious Wah Ching, and in most places did not operate under their own name but used surrogate gangs for their purposes.
     Now, for the first time the U.S. became interested in the Great Circle Gang.  Previously, only the individual cities that had Chinese gangs like New York and San Francisco had any interest.  The DEA and FBI thought it was just a "local" problem.  Now, the interest was nationwide.

"Tai Huen Chai" - The Great Circle Gang

     My introduction to Tai Huen Chai, the Great Circle Gang, also called the "Big Circle Gang" or "Great Circle Boys," took place in the early fall of 1986, about a week after I arrived in Paraguay.  An Asuncion newspaper had on its front page a large, grisly color photograph of a  naked, bullet riddled and blood splattered corpse of a Chinese man.  The headlines read that a gambling disagreement between chinos (Chinese) ended in a bloody shootout at a popular steam bath house.  The article went on to explain that chinos were incorrigible gamblers and were often given to disagreements amongst themselves which resulted in violence. The article had a condescending tone, suggesting that Chinese lacked self control and were often given to violence. There was no mention of the fact that the shooting involved gang members.  Having some knowledge of Chinese, I knew that Chinese did not go around shooting each other over gambling disputes!  So I knew there were gangs involved, just didn't know which gang.
     A few weeks later I ran into a Consul from the Nationalist Chinese Embassy (Taiwan) in Asuncion.  Paraguay under Alfredo Stroessner was a very anti-communist country.  This was a legacy of the White Russians who fought for Paraguay during Chaco War who were all fervent anti communists and naturally passed on their mind set to Paraguayans.  So, Paraguay was one of the few countries in the world that had a Nationalist Chinese Embassy as well as South African Embassy during apartheid.  There was no PRC or Soviet Embassy, nor any other communist bloc embassy!
     The Taiwan Consul, whose name was Joseph, was a very friendly sort, mostly educated in the United States, so I could have easily mistaken him for a Chinese-American, especially with a Christian first name!  We became pretty good friends, and during one of our conversations, I mentioned to him about the shooting a few months earlier and that I was surprised that there was no mention of any gangs.  He seemed surprised that I didn't know that gangs were involved.  He told me that the shooting was the work of the "Great Circle Gang" which was moving in on the local Triad.  The victim of the shooting was the head of the local Triad which the Great Circle Gang decided to remove, literally!  That was the first time that I had heard the name Great Circle Gang.
     When I asked around the different offices in our embassy, no one seemed to know anything about the Chinese gang activities.  In fact, no one even seemed to know that there was a Triad in Paraguay!
     Joseph was more surprised than I was that we had no information on the Triad.  He asked me if I wanted information on the Great Circle Gang and I told him that I was very much interested in learning about this criminal organization.  He proceeded to give me information, went through the trouble of translating some of their files into English and passed them on to me.  He said that their embassy was very much interested in keeping an eye on the Triad because aside from being just a criminal gang, it was also an ultra-left wing communist organization that had its leadership made up of former Red Guards!  He said that they were even too extreme for the PRC government!
     Joseph gave me documentation and all the background information on the Great Circle Gang.  He said that their main goal was to spread their activities throughout South America and into North America.  They were especially interested in narco-trafficking and human smuggling.  They had ties with a minor Triad in the Fujien Province in China and wanted to establish a pipeline of human smuggling into the United States.  They were already involved in human trafficking as well as narcotics which they were sending up to the U.S. in various interesting ways.
     The Great Circle Gang was still primarily headquartered in Hong Kong.  But they were spreading fast.  Their first foray into South America was by way of Sao Paolo in Brazil.  Sao Paolo has one of the largest Asian populations in South America, so the Triad felt that it could easily blend in and start their operations.  What they didn't realize was that Sao Paolo's Asian population was predominantly Japanese!  The Japanese Yakuza was already established there so they didn't appreciate the Triad trying to move in on them.  After some bloody clashes with the Yakuza, the Triad decided to leave Brazil and move to Paraguay, that was in the early 1980s.  By mid 1980s, they were well established.  They had bought their way solidly into Paraguay.  Everyone from the president down to some low level bureaucrats were all in their pockets.  The most notable Paraguayan official "owned" by the Triad was Sabino Montanaro, the Minister of Interior of Paraguay!  Considering Paraguay's avowed hatred for communists, it is interesting that they were willing to accept the Triad that was known to have communist leadership, but perhaps they didn't know.  I didn't know until my friend Joseph told me and showed me documentation!
     So, the Great Circle Gang became firmly entrenched in Paraguay. 
     It will probably take several blogs to cover the Great Circle Gang's activities in Paraguay, so I will end this blog now and pick up the story of the Triad in the next blog.

Tongs and Triads

     Before going into the discussion of the "Great Circle Gang" aka "Great or Big Circle Boys" in Paraguay, I felt that more background and explanation of the so-called Tongs in America and Triads in China was necessary.  As mentioned in the previous blog, the Tongs and Triads got their start as  "neighborhood associations" in America in the late 19th and early 20th Century.  In China, the Triads were formed initially as political opposition to the oppressive Manchu Ching Dynasty rulers in the early 19th Century and some were simply called "Heaven and Earth" societies (as explained in the previous blog, the Triad stands for Heaven-Earth-Man).  Initially the Triads were mostly involved in trying to overthrow their Manchu rulers, but in time, by the late 19th Century, they became criminal organizations.  After all, in order to finance their political activities, they needed money!  To raise money they began to get involved in money making criminal activities, everything from gambling and prostitution, to narcotics and kidnapping for ransom!
     One of the more powerful Shangahi Triads was called the Green Gang, and the Green Gang was largely responsible for supporting the Nationalist Party, the Koumintang!  Chang Kai Sheik was a bona fide member of the Green Gang before he rose to power!  So it was the Triad that brought him to power!  There were numerous Triads operating all over China, mostly in large cities.  When the Nationalists lost the civil war to the communists and fled to Taiwan, the Green Gang as well as several other Triads moved with the Chang Kai Sheik government to Taiwan!  Others scattered about and moved to nearby countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Malay (which became Malaysia and a separate Singapore) where to this day the Triads exist.  However, some moved to Hong Kong where there were already established Triads.  So Hong Kong became the center of Triad activity.  But all this took place after 1949 when mainland China fell to the communists.
     In America, the Tongs were established in Chinatowns as benevolent associations, i.e., neighborhood associations for mutual support, to help fellow Chinese who might need financial or some other assistance.  Keep in mind that the Chinese were the first Asians to receive the so-called "exclusion" treatment by the U.S. government.  By early 20th Century, Chinese were banned from entering the U.S., and those who were in America could not own property or become U.S. citizens.  Ironically, rather than having things improve in time, the situation became worst when Congress passed the Asian Exclusion Act of 1924 which barred all Asians from entering the U.S. and the same restrictions that applied to the Chinese were placed on Japanese, Koreans, and Filipinos.  Ironically, Philippines was ruled by the U.S. at the time!
     Those Asians who were born in the U.S. were U.S. citizens, therefore, at least theoretically, entitled to all the rights of a U.S. citizen.  But things didn't work quite that way.  If you were Asian, especially Chinese or Japanese, you had a hell of a time getting normal access to things that a U.S. citizen took for granted.  Bank loans were almost impossible to get for Chinese and Japanese even if they were U.S. citizens, so, organizations like the Tongs were a big help.  The Tongs gave loans to Chinese who needed money and helped set up businesses for them by having the property listed under a U.S. citizen's name.  The Japanese did not have Tongs, but there were neighborhood organizations that helped fellow Japanese.  Interestingly enough, there were Japanese banks in America, Sumitomo and Sanwa Banks.  These banks loaned money to the Japanese which they could not get from American banks!  So the Tongs and the similar organizations played a vital role in Chinese and Japanese communities for the survival of the people!
     Going back to mainland China, after the communist take over of the country, Chairman Mao made a concerted effort to get rid of what remained of Triads.  After the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s,  it is said that in one night Mao had over 50,000 Red Guard members executed, because he suspected them of being affiliated with Triads!  Mao did not forget that the Triads supported the Nationalists, so he was ruthless in seeking out and eliminating Triad members.  Mao was correct in his suspicions, many of the Red Guards as well as active duty People's Army members were Triad members.  When it couldn't be proved that a Red Guard or People's Army member was with the Triad, they were simply imprisoned.  So, upon their release from prison, most of them made their way into Hong Kong and established the "Great or Big Circle Gang."  The next blog will discuss this violent gang and its activities in Paraguay as well as its incursion into America.

The Chinese Triad in Paraguay

     As already mentioned in the previous blog, European immigrants were invited and were coming to Paraguay since the 19th Century.  The Italian immigrants came in large numbers and established a dairy industry that to this day is mostly controlled by them.  Paraguay has excellent dairy products, cheeses, milk and, of course, gelato, the Italian ice cream!  Germans also came in large numbers and particularly the German Mennonites who established a large farming colony in the inhospitable Chaco, where the Paraguayans refused to farm, and turned it into a thriving farmland.  The main city in the Chaco, Filadelfia, is basically a German town!  All around the area, German is the franca lingua!  In other regions Germans took up other occupations and the best beer in Paraguay is "Bavaria" brand that was started by German brew-masters.  There were other European groups, including Russian who contributed heavily during the Chaco War.
     The Asians began to come to Paraguay shortly after the end of the World War Two.  By the 1980s the Chinese and the Koreans dominated the small electronics businesses and shops.  The Paraguayn shops would all close for "siesta" between 1 and 5 in the afternoon.  They would also be closed on Sundays.  The Chinese and Koreans stayed open all the time, 7 days a week.  Its not hard to figure out who would stay in business and who would not, under such conditions.  The Japanese farmed the land in the south and for the first time, quality vegetables and fruits were available in Paraguay year around.  Paraguayans themselves freely admit that without the Japanese farmers, they would never be able to enjoy such abundance and quality of fruits and vegetables!
     But Paraguay has also seen its share of disreputable characters, fugitives from justice, including Nazis, since the end of World War Two.  In the 1980s, besides the aging Nazis, there were known terrorists from the Balkans who moved about freely in Paraguay.  Various known groups of Arab terrorists had purchased large tracts of land and established sanctuaries and terrorist training camps!  But perhaps the most unlikely criminal element that came to Paraguay was the infamous Chinese Triad, a criminal gang from Hong Kong!  There were already some Chinese criminal elements in Paraguay who came with the first wave of Chinese.  But they mostly kept a low profile.  But not so with the new wave of criminals that arrived in the 1980s.
     The name Triad represents Heaven-Earth-Man.  The first Triads appeared in the 18th Century China during the Ching Dynasty and were initially organized up to provide help and protection for the helpless population from corrupt government officials.  However, it soon evolved into nothing but pure criminal organizations.  Some did remain as "neighborhood" associations formed for mutual protection from corrupt authorities.  Some of these "neighborhood" associations moved to America and became known as "Tongs."  However, Tongs were not the violent criminal organizations that later became so well known through Hollywood and Hong Kong movies.  For the most part, they were just that, "neighborhood" associations and more of business organizations providing the Chinese population with banking (loans) and other typical services.  But the modern Triads of Hong Kong are a totally different story. Before Hong Kong's reversion to PRC, many of the newer gangs were formed by recently arrived Chinese from the PRC.  They were criminals who had to leave Beijing or Shanghai, for they were wanted by PRC authorities.  In Hong Kong they found more freedom and also found competition from already established Triads.  Naturally turf wars started, and this was when the "new" Triads developed a reputation for violence and ruthlessness, the kind that the older Triads had not seen!
     One of the most violent of all Triads was called the "Great Circle Gang."  It was established and run by former People's Army members and they stopped at nothing to get what they wanted.  However, they were so ambitious that they decided to spread their activities outside of Hong Kong. They began to look elsewhere to set up their criminal activities and Paraguay became one of their choices.
     Paraguay in the mid1980s was still very much under the iron fist of the dictator Alfredo Stroessner.  His government was corrupt and ruthless in dealing with its population.  All of Stroessner's officials were corrupt, and probably the most corrupt of all was his Minister of Interior, Sabino Montanaro.  In the mid 1980s Montanaro suddenly developed an interest in things Chinese!  His house was filled with various Chinese artifacts and he was often seen dining with Chinese companions in one of the numerous, excellent Chinese restaurants in Asuncion.  Montanaro was also often seen in the company of beautiful Chinese girls.  In fact, like in a bad movie, Montanaro (who was in his 50s) had two Chinese mistresses!  They were twin sisters that were provided to him by the Chinese Triad! They were, in fact, members of the Triad themselves and were tasked to keep an eye on the old lecher!
     Montanaro, it turned out, had truly "gone to bed" (not just with the twins!) with the Triad.  He had arranged and approved for a high ranking Triad member in Hong Kong to become Paraguay's Consul!  As the chief diplomatic officer of Paraguay in Hong Kong, this Triad member issued Paraguayan visas to other Triad members to travel to Paraguay.  Additionally, Montanaro had issued Paraguayan Diplomatic Passports to a number of higher ranking Triad members who could travel back and forth unmolested by customs officials on either side!  Back in Paraguay, Montanaro was living a high life, dining in fancy Chinese restaurants, always seen with at least one beautiful Chinese girl clinging to his arm.  It is said that he received in the neighborhood of one million dollars a year for his cooperation with the Triad.  Of course there were other Paraguayan government officials that received money from the Chinese. The president of the country, Alfredo Stroessner himself received a cool million or so a year, and he didn't have to do anything, just look the other way.
     In this way, one of the most violent and notorious Triads of Hong Kong moved in on Paraguay.  However, their ultimate goal was to spread all over South America and into the United States!  After just a few short years in Paraguay, they already began to establish themselves in Sao Paolo, Brazil and had set foot in San Francisco and New York in the United States. In the next blog I will cover this Triad that was known as the "Great Circle Gang."

The Chaco War and the Russians

     The presence of Germans and other Europeans in Paraguay is well known.  Paraguay invited European immigrants to settle in their country, especially after the disastrous Triple Alliance War of the 19th Century.  Some claim that the Paraguayan population was reduced from over a million to around 400,000.  There are no accurate figures, but no doubt the Paraguayan population had taken a heavy toll and was significantly reduced after that war. 
     European immigrants had been coming to Paraguay even before the the Triple Alliance War, but the numbers increased considerably after the war.  There were many immigrants from Germany and Italy.  However, Russia too provided some immigrants, especially after their Bolshevik Revolution that followed the First World War.  At one time, between 1920s and the 1950s, there were several thousand Russians living in Paraguay, centered around the capital city of Asuncion.  There was even a Russian Orthodox church in Asuncion, with services held in Russian by a Russian priest.  Most of the Russians that came to Paraguay were professionals, doctors, engineers, and soldiers, educated class.  Paraguay's military academy was founded and run by former Tsarist Russian officers.  The academy was headed by former Tsarist Russian General Belaeff, who was given a Paraguayan colonel's rank.  Most of the staff at the academy were former Russian officers.  But before the academy could produce a decent crop of new officers, the Chaco War with Bolivia (1932-1935) was on the verge of breaking out.
     Paraguay did not have an officer corps to speak of, in fact, they barely had an army that was rag-tag, with no leadership.  So, in desperation, the Paraguayan government, on the advice of Belaeff, ordered their Ambassador in Paris to try and recruit former Russian officers to fight for Paraguay.  Bolivian army had been trained and was led by German officers.  In fact, the Chief of Staff of the Bolivian Army was a former German General Hans Kundt!  The Bolivian army was a Latin version of the German army! They were dressed like the Germans, armed with German weapons, and trained and led by German officers!  The majority of the Bolivian officer corps were combat experienced German officers.  Paraguayans had nothing of a kind.  So they recruited about 100 former Russian officers to fight for their country.  They first recruited about 50 former officers, but then they ran out of experienced volunteers, so they recruited an additional 50 or so who had military training, but not necessarily experience.  My acquaintance, Alexander Von Eckstein was in the latter group.
     Although Paraguayan Generals commanded the Paraguayan army, it was actually Belaeff, the former Russian General who commanded the combat troops.  Belaeff recommended that Paraguay fight a guerrilla war.  He said that Paraguay did not have enough troops, trained officers, or equipment to fight the Bolivians head on as a conventional force.  Bolivians were well armed, well trained and officered by Germans.  They also outnumbered the Paraguayans considerably, something like 5 to 1.  So, taking Belaeff's advice, the Paraguayans launched a guerrilla war, fighting on numerous fronts of their choosing.  The 100 or so Russians were sent off to Chaco, where the majority of fighting was taking place.  There, the Russians were split up and assigned to lead small Paraguayan units with local Chaco Indian scouts to conduct guerrilla warfare.  Many units operated on horseback and were led by former Cossack officers.  It was a very hard campaign.  These Russian led guerrilla forces mostly lived off the land!
     In the meantime, the Paraguayan navy, the brown water navy that operated on Parana and Paraguay Rivers, was commanded by a former Tsarist Russian Admiral, Prince Tumanoff.  Tumanoff was given a Paraguayan captain's rank and charged with organizing the navy units.  Tumanoff did so successfully with a staff of former Russian naval officers.  Interestingly, he was always addressed by his title, not his military rank.  Even the Paraguayans called him el principe (the prince) rather than capitan (captain).
     The Russian led guerrilla campaign was highly successful, although history books do not give credit to the Russians.  The Russian veterans of the Chaco War themselves do not begrudge the fact that their contribution did not receive credit.  As one veteran said, "We were mercenaries, so why should we get the credit?"
     After two years of bitter fighting, the Chaco War ended with a Paraguayan victory.  By the end of the war, two Russians were promoted to general officer rank, Belaeff being the first.  After the war, several more were promoted to general, despite some opposition and anti foreigner mentality of majority of Paraguayans.  Also, several streets in Asuncion were named after Russians!
     Despite not receiving due credit, it is quite apparent to anyone who has done any research in the area that Russian contribution during Chaco War was significant.  Most of the Russians left Paraguay by the 1950s, ending up in Canada and the United States.
     The Chaco War and Russian participation is but a small part of Paraguayan history, but it is an important one and should not be ignored.  Aside form fighting in the Chaco and training and leading Paraguayan soldiers in battle, most of the medical staff, doctors and nurses in field hospitals during the war were Russian.  They may have been small in numbers, but their contribution was significant.

Alejandro (formerly Alexander) Von Eckstein

     I met Colonel Alejandro Von Eckstein under rather unusual circumstances.  In 1987, in Paraguay, our relationship with the Paraguayan government was not exactly good.  The Paraguayan President Alfredo Stroessner did not like our ambassador and officials from the embassy had practically no contact with anyone from Stroessner's inner circle.  We had an army Colonel who was the head of our MilGroup, the Military Mission to Paraguay (not the Defense Attache's Office) who was friendly with Stroessner, but our ambassador had him removed, sent back to Washington, for some breach in protocol.  So, for all practical purposes, we had no one who knew anything about what was going on in Stroessner's palace, which incidentally, was practically next to the U.S. Embassy compound!
     I won't go into details on how the meeting took place.  The meeting in itself would make another story.  Suffice it to say that our initial meeting was not exactly friendly.  But, amazingly, the tone and nature of the meeting changed completely when I addressed him in Russian.  We at least had enough intelligence on him to know that he was of Russian-German background, so I decided to speak to him in Russian rather than in Spanish, since it was very hard to follow his heavily accented Spanish anyway!  On hearing me speak Russian, his demeanor changed completely, from an angry, confrontational person to a smiling, friendly individual.  It was amazing!  He quickly concluded whatever he came to say and instead shifted from business to a social meeting.  He invited me to lunch at a popular German restaurant in town called El Caballito Blanco (it means "The Little White Horse" in Spanish), which also served Russian food of sorts.  So I met him for lunch and he told me his story.
     Von Eckstein was born Alexander Von Ecstein of ethnic German parents in Baltic region of Russia.  He attended Russian schools, received some early military training through Kadetsky Korpus (Cadet Corps), a system of military education that existed in pre revolutionary Russia.  However, he was but about 12 years old when the revolution broke out and he and his parents escaped west to France, so he really didn't get much of military training!  In Paris he attended newly established Russian schools and finished his education by the time he was 18.  He knocked around in various jobs but then eagerly volunteered to go to Paraguay in 1932 to fight for Paraguay.  He was in his 20s at the time.  He arrived with the second batch of White Russians recruited by Paraguayan government to fight for them in the Chaco War.
     He received a  commission as a lieutenant in the Paraguayan army and assigned along with other Russians to fight in northwestern region of Paraguay that borders Bolivia.  This is a very inhospitable, desert region that is called Chaco.  So, along with about 100 other Russians, he joined in the fight and spent the next two years or so in the Chaco bush fighting a guerrilla war against the Bolivian army.  He steadily rose in rank and by the time the war was concluded, he was a Captain in the Paraguayan army.  During the war, he befriended a Paraguayan lieutenant by the name of Alfredo Stroessner while the two were recuperating in a field hospital from wounds received in battle.  He never thought at the time that his friendship with the then unknown lieutenant would prove to be beneficial to him later.
     After the Chaco war, Von Eckstein stayed in the army for a short time, then decided to get out and try his hand in other things.  He took Paraguayan citizenship, changed his name to Alejandro and worked around in different jobs.  Then, as luck would have it, he met a well to do Paraguayan girl and fell in love.  The two married and Von Eckstein was pretty well set financially since his wife came from a wealthy land owning family.  In the meantime, Stroessner rose in rank in the army, but was dissatisfied with the government.  The Paraguayan Civil War broke out in the late 1940s and in the 1950s Alfredo Stroessner conducted a coup d'état and took over as the President of Paraguay.  Von Eckstein maintained friendly contact with the new president of the country, but he had no interest in working for the government.
     In 1970s Von Eckstein was invited to the Presidential Palace and Stroessner asked him to return to the army and work for him as the Chief of Palace Security.  The job was purely ceremonial, what Stroessner wanted was someone who spoke Russian.  By the 1970s, he had no one in the army or government service who could speak Russian, so he asked his old friend to help him.  Von Eckstein agreed and that is how he became the oldest active duty Colonel in the Paraguayan army when I met him.
     His adventures during the Chaco War were fascinating and I learned much about the Chaco War that I would have never learned otherwise.  Von Eckstein even authored a little book about his experiences during the Chaco War, written in Spanish, no doubt with the help of his wife.  He loaned me his personal photo album of Chaco War that was full of incredible photographic history of that war.  My wife Jo and I pored over that album, fascinated by what we saw.
     I left Paraguay in the summer of 1988.  In the fall of 1988, the Commanding Officer of the Paraguayan First Cavalry Division, General Rodriguez, a lifelong friend of Alfredo Stroessner, led a coup that ousted Stroessner who fled to Brazil.  All of Stroessner's cronies were either arrested or had fled.  Somehow, Von Eckstein was left alone.  Always a survivor, he seemed to be OK when he called me from Paraguay.  I was in Ecuador at the time and his called came as a total surprise.  Von Eckstein asked me if I could arrange to have some of his friends receive U.S. visas if they came to Ecuador!  I told him that was not possible.  He sighed deeply over the phone, told me that I could make a lot of money, that these people were willing to pay a lot for U.S. visas!  No doubt his "commission" on this deal would have been substantial!   I told him that it was still no go!  I then asked him if he was OK, and he said that he was fine, that Rodriguez "owed" him so he would not be touched.  That was the last time I spoke to him or heard anything from him.  He is no doubt dead by now, but what a character, what a survivor!  As for Paraguay, what country!  I will discuss other interesting aspects of Paraguay in future blogs.

"Fugitives" in Paraguay

     Paraguay has always had a reputation for harboring unsavory characters, fugitives from around the world.  This was particularly true shortly after the end of World War Two.  However, in reality, Paraguay drew all sorts of people, bad and good, who came to that country for a fresh start.   
     Paraguay's "open door" policy to immigrants dates back to the 19th Century, shortly after the end of the disastrous "Triple Alliance War" in which Paraguay went to war against Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay (three countries that surround it), at the same time!  Paraguay lost the bulk of its male population during that war, and as a result, found itself very shorthanded, mostly populated with women.  An open door immigration policy was established to draw immigrants from Europe to fill the void in male population caused by the war.  Frankly, Paraguay was never able to recover from that war to this day.  Currently the female to male ratio runs around 3 to 1, three females for every male.
     In SNAP SHOTS from a Wingshooting Odyssey there are two stories centered around somewhat unusual characters.  In  "Wildeburger of Pirayu" it is a mysterious German shopkeeper who I suspect was a Nazi fugitive. In the "The Gun Collector" it is a South African of German descent who is more of an economic refugee who came to Paraguay for a better life, not to escape or hide from authorities.  There were many such characters in Paraguay in the 1980s.  There were Nazi fugitives who did not even try to hide their true colors.  During Oktoberfest, a very popular holiday in Paraguay,  many old Nazis gathered at one of the many German clubs in Asuncion and celebrated banging beer steins on wooden tables and singing Nazi martial songs.  It was spooky, to say the least!  They were old men, most of them in their late sixties and seventies, some in their eighties. I imagine they have all died off by now, but back in the 1980s when I was in Paraguay, they were very much around!  It is not surprising that the notorious Josef Mengele lived in Paraguay in the 1950s, even managed to get (purchase) Paraguayan citizenship under his own name!  He only left Paraguay when Israeli Nazi hunters were getting too close.
     Although there were Nazi fugitives in Asuncion (capitol city), most hard core Nazis were scattered around the countryside living on large farms and cattle ranches.  German influence was markedly strong in those days.  The Paraguayan army dress uniforms were patterned after the German uniforms, and the dictator/president of the country at the time was of German descent, Alfredo Stroessner.  There were many Germans, and their influence was quite apparent.
     I made the acquaintance of Stroessner's Palace Security Chief, an old Paraguayan Army Colonel by the name of Alejandro Von Eckstein who was in his 70s or 80s!  Von Eckstein was a curious blend of Russian and German.  He was from the Baltic region of Russia and although he was ethnically German, he was educated in Russian schools, so he was completely bilingual, trilingual by the time he came to Paraguay.  His Russian, although heavily accented with German, was completely fluent.  His Spanish had a curious mixture of Russian and German accent, very difficult to understand!  Von Eckstein was not a Nazi, he came to Paraguay in the 1930s to volunteer to fight for Paraguay during the Chaco War when Paraguay fought with Bolivia.  The Paraguayans recruited in Paris among Russian émigré community,  especially those with military background.  Von Eckstein was not a military veteran, but he was a graduate of Russian Kadetski Korpus, a military schooling system.  So his training and knowledge was welcome, since Paraguay didn't have much of an army at the time.
     Von Eckstein's story is fascinating, much like something a Hollywood script writer dreamed up!  I will discuss my brief association with Von Eckstein in the next blog.

Snap Shots

     My latest book, Snap Shots, from a Wingshooting Odyssey is out and available from Amazon.com in print (paperback) version.  The electronic Kindle version is still to come, probably next week.  So, here I am, once again shamelessly flogging one of my books!  If you have been following my blogs from the beginning, you may recall that I started to blog in order to promote my book The Manchurian Tales, thus the blog was called "Nick Hahn's Manchurian Tales."  However, the blog developed a life of its own, and before long I was blogging on subjects that were only marginally connected to The Manchurian Tales. 
     More recently I changed the blog title to "Nick Hahn's Manchurian Tales and Snap Shots," to allow me to blog on subjects that were covered in my latest book.  I believe I explained all that on my Facebook Wall earlier.  So, here we are, entering somewhat different areas of discussion, but not really, since we will revisit the "boy soldier" subject, the so-called "kamikaze" pilots that were better known as tokkotai.  You may recall there were two blogs on that topic back in July and I mentioned in the first blog that there was a short story in my forthcoming book Snap Shots called "The Boy Soldier" that was about someone I knew on Okinawa.  Well, the book is out, so I guess I better give a bit more of an explanation.  Snap Shots is a collection of short stories taking place all over the world.  They are stories about my experiences in different corners of the world, interesting people that I met during my time abroad, connected with my interest in hunting.  Naturally, Japan and Okinawa play a prominent role and several stories are about the interesting people I met as a pre-teen and as a teen living in Japan and Okinawa.  I am purposely separating Japan from Okinawa because at the time that I lived on Okinawa, it was not part of Japan.  It was only after reversion took place in 1972 that the island was called Okinawa, Japan.
     For those of you who were on Okinawa (before the reversion) during the time period roughly from mid 1950s to early 1960s, you may recall there was a U.S. government installation at the southern tip of the island, past Yonabaru, and up a steep, winding hill that was called "Habu Hill."  The installation, Camp Chinen, was named after a peninsula on which it was located. If you had been to that camp and happened to visit the small bowling alley (only four lanes!) and by chance met the manager, then you would have met the man I described in the short story called "The Boy Soldier."  I changed his name somewhat, and I changed the name of his American friend, but overall, the characters are described as they were at that time.  As I stated in the story, I knew him very well and we were very good friends.  It may seem odd that a teenager would befriend an older man who was in his 30s, but I did become his good friend.  So, what he told me about himself was not something that I took lightly. 
     When I returned to Okinawa much later in the late 1960s, one of the first persons that I looked up was my friend from the bowling alley, the former "boy soldier."  However, he was no longer working at the small bowling alley in Camp Chinen, he had moved on to a bigger job and was a manager of a much larger bowling alley in what used to be called the Machinato Troop Area.  It was good to see him, and we spent some time reminiscing about the "good old days." 
     In the late 1960s, there was much talk about reversion to Japan in local papers.  My friend, like many other residents of Okinawa, did not think it was a good idea.  My friend, as I mentioned in the story, was not Okinawan by birth.  He was originally from Hiroshima area and moved to Okinawa after the war.  So I was somewhat surprised at his view, I thought he would have been glad to have Okinawa become part of Japan.  When I asked him why he thought it was a bad idea, he explained that Okinawa never was really part of Japan and it would never be completely accepted by the Japanese.  In other words, he thought Okinawa would just become the poor, "distant country cousin" of Japan.  He was right, of course!  To this date, some 42 years after the reversion, Okinawa is still the poorest Prefecture in Japan, essentially getting left over help from the central government in Tokyo!
     I have lost touch with my friend, and if he is still alive, he would be in his 90s!  He was quite prophetic about what would happen after reversion.  He said at the time that the Japanese from Honshu and Kyushu would move in and take over all the important positions both in government and business.  He was absolutely right, of course.  There are people who are native to Okinawa who have succeeded under the new Japanese rule.  But overall, it is the people from naichi (the main islands or mainland Japan) who control everything.  It is amusing to note that he predicted that one of the first things that the Japanese would do was change the driving to the left side of the road!  He said that it would make sense to keep the traffic laws as they were, making the transition to reversion easier for everyone.  But he said that the government in Tokyo would never allow that.  Changing the traffic laws was one of the ways to establish their control, their stamp.  He was also concerned about the new laws that would come, making gun ownership and hunting more difficult.  He was right on all counts.  Japanese gun laws are some of the most restrictive laws in the world, and their hunting regulations border on ridiculous!  My friend the "Boy Soldier," quite a man!