Dueling is still legal in Paraguay. However, duels can only take place between two people, the duel must be registered with the authorities, there has to be medical staff on hand, and the participants must be registered blood donors.
Or is it? There are numerous sites on the internet confirming that duels are still legal in Paraguay--including that of the Chicago Tribune. The statement contained within the first paragraph of this factoid has been asserted as an axiom on so many occasions in so many places that it is almost universally accepted as totally valid. However, one is hard-pressed to find any authoritative source confirming the legality of duels in Paraguay. In fact, in a mind-boggling expose by the Mississippi Library Commission, it confirmed that the Paraguay Embassy had informed the MLC that dueling is NOT legal in that country.
How did the rumor get started? Well, dueling WAS* legal in Uruguay between 1920 and 1992, and probably, in a sad commentary on education in the USA, some writer got confused about geography and mixed up the two countries in a story while omitting the part that dueling was eventually banned. The misstatement grew legs and scurried around the internet until it evolved into apparent truth.
*Or was it? Wahahahaha...
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