Reply #14: I don't know much about Paraguayan politics but I understood that [View All]

[Peace Patriot]

Paraguay now has an anti-Yankee leftist government, like the countries bordering these lands, Brazil and Bolivia, and like most of South America (--Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela and Bolivia, and quite soon Ecuador (leftist way ahead in the polls), and next election cycle, Peru.

I was going to ask, does anyone have a summary of current Paraguayan politics, then I googled it myself and found this excellent article, only a month old--which is deeply disturbing and sounds made to order for Bushite interference. Paraguay is far from stable--does not seem on the way to recovery from draconian US policy, as most other So. American countries seem to be--and is the latest lethal playground for the murderous and militaristic US "war on drugs, pushed into Paraguay from Columbia (--it's not a "war on drugs," it's a war on poor peasants and leftists). Paraguay's dictator is gone, but it has a weak and corrupt centrist government, unlike the more vigorous leftist governments in other countries. When you combine this information with the Z-mag article below (by Benjamin Dangle), which paints a less rosy picture of the leftist movements in some countries (Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil), than I have gotten from other readings--and indicates a more fragile situation, overall, than seemed to be emerging in stories of Latin American regional solidarity--this Bushite land grab in Paraguay becomes yet more alarming. What are these fascists up to? Latin America's concern about it seems well-founded. It may be more than Bush's refuge from prosecution. It may a launching pad for repression and the toppling of good governments.

So, after wrecking our country, now they plan to wreck some others, that are just emerging from decades of brutal repression and are re-establishing democratic rule, and just, fair and representative government policy?

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Bulwark Paraguay
by Ronald J. Morgan
September 22, 2006
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=20&ItemID=11023

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Latin America's Leftist Shift: Hopes and Challenges - by Benjamin Dangl - 3/16/06
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=9921

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Here's a description of US military encroachments in Paraguay, Nov. '05:

Eyes on US Troops in Paraguay as Bolivian Election Nears
by Benjamin Dangl
www.dissidentvoice.org
November 21, 2005
First Published in UpsideDownWorld.org

"The recent shift to the left among Latin American governments has been a cause for concern in the Bush administration. The White House has tried in vain to put this shift in check. Presidential elections in Bolivia on December 18th are likely to further challenge U.S. hegemony. Evo Morales, an indigenous, socialist congressman, is expected to win the election. How far will the U.S. go to prevent a leftist victory in Bolivia? Some Bolivians fear the worst.  

"In the past year, U.S. military operations in neighboring Paraguay have complicated the already tumultuous political climate in the region. White House officials claim the operations are based on humanitarian aid efforts. However, political analysts in Bolivia and Paraguay say the activity is aimed at securing the region’s gas and water reserves and intervening in Bolivia if Morales wins. 

"Five hundred U.S. troops arrived in Paraguay on July 1st with planes, weapons and ammunition. Reports from a journalist with the Argentine newspaper, Clarin, prove that an airbase exists in Mariscal Estigarribia, Paraguay, which is 200 kilometers from the border with Bolivia and may be utilized by the U.S. military. (1)  

"Earlier this year, Paraguayan lawmakers granted U.S. troops total immunity and have given the Pentagon access to the Estigarribia base, which was built by U.S. technicians in the 1980s and is larger than Paraguay's international airport in Asunción, the country’s capital. (2)  

"In addition to the military activity, the FBI also has plans for Paraguay. On October 26, FBI Director Robert Mueller arrived in the country to 'check on preparations for the installation of a permanent FBI office in Asuncion…to cooperate with security organizations to fight international crime, drug traffic and kidnapping.'" (MORE)

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Nov05/Dangl1121.htm