What is the U.S. Military Doing in Paraguay?

[Robbien]

According to an article in the Bolivian newspaper, El Deber, a U.S. base is being developed in Mariscal Estigarribia, Paraguay, 200 kilometers from the border with Bolivia. The base will permit the landing of large aircraft and is capable of housing up to 16,000 troops. A contingent of 500 U.S. troops arrived in Paraguay on July 1st with planes, weapons, equipment and ammunition. (1)

. . .

On May 26, 2005 the Paraguayan senate approved the entrance of the troops, granting them total immunity, free from Paraguayan and International Criminal Court jurisdiction. The legislature is due to expire in December 2006, but is automatically extendable. Since December 2004, the U.S. has been pressuring Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela and Paraguay into signing a deal which would grant immunity to U.S. military. The Bush administration threatened to deny the countries up to $24.5 million in economic and military aid if they refused to sign the deal. Paraguay was the only country to accept the offer. (2)

A statement issued from the U.S. embassy in Paraguay explained that the military exercises in question involve humanitarian and medical assistance to poor communities as well as military training. The embassy maintained that the U.S. has “absolutely no intention of establishing a military base anywhere in Paraguay” and “has no intention to station soldiers for a lengthy period in Paraguay.” (3)

The Pentagon used this same rhetoric when describing its actions in Manta, Ecuador, now the home of an $80 million U.S. military base. First they said the facility was an archaic “dirt strip” which would be used for weather monitoring and would not permanently house U.S. personnel. Days later, the Pentagon stated that Manta was to serve as a major military base tasked with a variety of security-related missions. Human rights groups have linked the U.S. base in Manta to the 2002 coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. (4)

. . .

If the new U.S. base does in fact exist, its location makes sense. It will put U.S. troops within easy striking distance of the Bolivian provinces of Santa Cruz and Tarija, home to the second largest gas reserves in South America. Bolivian business leaders interested in privatizing and exporting the country’s gas have spearheaded a move in these resource rich provinces for a secessionist referendum, which will take place on August 12th. If the region votes for autonomy, it’s likely the gas will be privatized, an unpopular plan that’s generated massive protests in the country since 2003. If new civil unrest occurs over the gas issue, the U.S. military will be in a strategic position to intervene, in part to protect the interests of U.S. energy corporations.

The U.S. is currently working from within the Bolivian borders to create military networks. The U.S. State Department recently asked riot gear manufacturers to submit proposals for equipment it plans to send to the Bolivian government. The U.S. is asking for 3,700 upper body tactical padding suits, and 3,700 pairs of shin guards. On the same day as that request, the US Army issued a separate bid to build an emergency operations center in La Paz, which will consist of a "2-story building…with reinforced concrete floors, masonry walls and a reinforced concrete slab…Estimated cost range of the project is from $100,000 to $250,000." (8)

much more
http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/cgi-bin/blogs/voices.php/2006/09/14/p10792

[valerief]

1. Protecting cocaine crops? (Thanks, Jon Stewart.) n/t

[JohnyCanuck]

2. Interfering in the internal affairs of another country would be my guess.

[mitchtv]

3. basically to threaten Bolivia , but in

all fairness, there has been reputed Alqueda presence in the tri country area of Brazil,Argentina and Paraguay, a very remote region.

[yellowcanine]

4. Look at a map of South America. Paraguay is strategically situated near

Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil and northern Chile. Have you looked at copper prices recently? Guess where some of the largest copper reserves are? You guessed it, northern Chile.

[Robbien]

5. Yes. Paraguay is a perfect place to put a base to protect corporate

interests in South America.

If Latin America gets uppitty and tries to get ownership of its natural resources, this military base would be situated perfectly to protect corporate interests against those nasty leftist rebels.