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Photo: Goldemberg Fonseca de Almeida from Dourados - MS, Brazil · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Catholic missionary initiative and set of missions in Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil
The Jesuit missions among the Guaraní were a type of settlement for the Guaraní people in an area straddling the borders of present-day Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, known locally as the triple frontier. The missions were established by the Jesuit Order of the Catholic Church early in the 17th century and ended in the late 18th century after the expulsion of the order from the Americas. The missions have been called an experiment in "socialist theocracy" or a rare example of "benign colonialism". Others have said that "the Jesuits took away the Indians' freedom, forced them to radically change their lifestyle, physically abused them, and subjected them to disease".
