Compared with North America, which features abundant navigable rivers and flatlands , South America is not so geologically lucky. Impenetrable rain forests and the world's longest continental mountain range divide country from country, inhibiting social and political cohesion. But of all the South American territories that colonial Spain controlled for nearly 300 years, Paraguay, with its vast thorn forests and savannahs, was among the most remote. Even after Paraguay gained its independence in 1811 , a series of isolationist dictators kept the country cloistered from the rest of South America. Its seclusion came at a cost: Throughout its history, Paraguay's economy has been one of the most underdeveloped in the Southern Cone. But since President Horacio Cartes came to power in 2013, Paraguay's economy has grown substantially.