Ilegalism in border contexts between Paraguay and Argentina. The case of Ñeembucú fuelmen

Abstract

Various types of illegal activities contribute to income generation and mobilize the economy, on the Paraguayan-Argentine border, some of which   are   publicly   exercised  and   socially  and   institutionally   tolerated, despite being punished under criminal law. This article focuses on one of these ventures, known as milking fuel (fuel robbery), with the aim of describing its dynamics, and the mechanisms of interaction between the fuelmen, the authorities and the population, through ethnographic techniques, mainly participant observation, interviews, informal conversations, and identification and observation of objects (barges, canoes, hoses, tanks, drums, stash locations, and sale points). The commercialization of the stolen fuel is carried out publicly in several neighborhoods of the city and transported daily or weekly to other regions of the country. The repression of the phenomenon is exceptional, due to the monthly payment of the fuel sale company’s executives to some authorities, as well as for the justification of the practice in the conviction that it generates labor, making it possible to support the families. Several of those involved in the commercial chain, although they recognize some degree of illegality of their practice, they do not perceived themselves as criminals justifying it due to the need for employment and the absence of lawful sources of work.