This is a photo of Paseo la Galeria, Asuncion's newest shopping mall. It joins several other glitzy such malls in the posher parts of the city, all of them filled with international brands selling at international prices. Proving that even in a country which, on the basis of GDP per capita, ranks as the 111th poorest in the world, there is enough wealth to justify the predatory attentions of some of the leading capitalist companies.

Yes there is wealth here. As can be seen by Paraguay's current president, Horacio Cartes. Paraguay beat the USA by several years in choosing as its president a billionaire businessman with no political experience, when it elected Senor Cartes in 2013. Amongst his more challenging pronouncements has been referring to members of the LGBT community as 'monkeys'. But it is his business interest that most define him. His companies have interests in tobacco, soft drinks, meat production and banking. According to our guide on a trip this morning the fact that he is President hasn't stopped him from continuing to buy up large chunks of Asunción.

Meanwhile he presides over a country that remains the go-to place in South America for counterfeit and smuggled goods. Paraguay may be bumping along in the lower divisions in terms of its economic performance but it plays with the big boys when it comes to corruption, being ranked as the 28th most corrupt country in the world. The wealthiest 10% of the population takes nearly 45 % of national income - more than enough to sustain a few Western style shopping malls.

Mind you, I have to confess that the air conditioning in the mall proved very welcome today as temperatures reached 37 degrees. The mall wouldn't be out of place in the most modern developed country and it appears that no expense has been spared to give those Paraguayans who can afford to shop there an authentic Western-style experience. However, that doesn't extend beyond the mall itself to improving the basic infrastructure. You still have to put your toilet paper in the bin rather than flushing it down the pan. C'est la vie...