Pilar, Paraguay Pilar, Paraguay Pilar () is the capital city of the Paraguayan department of Ñeembucú, located along the Paraguay River in the southwestern part of the country. Located about from Asunción, Pilar serves as an important center of commerce and government for the far southwestern region of the country. Pilar was founded by Pedro Melo de Portugal on October 12, 1779. The original name of the settlement was "Villa del Ñeembucú", named for the nearby Arroyo Ñeembucú that flows into the Paraguay River. Four years later it was renamed "Villa del Pilar" by Spanish priest Marcial Antonio Uliambre, for the Basilica
Revolt of the Comuneros (Paraguay) their streets and enforcing the new governor's rule. This wound never healed. By 1721, hatred of the Jesuits was even more intense than it was in the early 1600s. In 1717, Diego de los Reyes Balmaseda became governor of Paraguay. He purchased the position from the Spanish authorities, a practice that had spread at the time. Reyes was a merchant who had made his fortune trading exporting yerba mate from Paraguay and importing various cheap and needed manufactures back to Paraguay, so he was seen as qualified for the post by the Spanish Crown. Reyes was an open admirer of