Cervantes Prize winning Paraguayan auther, Augusto Roa Bastos, called Paraguay an "island without a sea." This was in reference to the lack of knowledge there was and still is about Paraguay (produced in Paraguay). Through the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner, there was implemented a culture of hostility towards intellectuals. This survives to this day and Paraguayan schools and universities are worse then universities of poor neighbor countries.
During the dictatorship there was only one book that talked about the socio/economic situation of the country. Any attempt to know the reality of life in Paraguay was seen as an action against the corrupt and brutal government. The only intellectuals that were not persecuted were those that were in service to the Stroessner regime.
There are two big universities in Paraguay. The most important is the National University (receives public money). This university was very influenced by the dictatorship and theColorado Party. The second university is the Catholic University. This university was not as influenced, but the Catholic Church was divided between those that served Stroessner and those against him. Even though the Catholic University had a conservative standing, it was still looked bad upon by the regime for being a not so biased form of information and knowledge.
Publications were closed and censured. Publications from universities virtually did not exist. Newspapers that dared to criticize the government were attacked and closed. Those that survived were friends of the status-quo.
One example of how the regime controlled knowledge was that it decided the highest national temperature. Overall there was a fictitious reality.
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