US Denies Setting up Military Base in Paraguay

[Gloria]

New World Media Watch up now at http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical
Tomorrow at Buzzflash.com


4//MercoPress News Agency, Uruguay Sunday, 25 September 2005

http://www.mercopress.com/Detalle.asp?NUM=6494



US DENIES SETTING UP MILITARY BASE IN PARAGUAY



The United States Embassy in Asunción has denied an allegation which caused concern in Mercosur that Washington was planning to set up a military base in Paraguay.



Kevin Johnson, an adviser for the embassy, said the US troops’ presence in Paraguay was in line with a programme of military manoeuvres carried out by both countries since 1948.



“My government does not want to establish a military base,” he said in reports published on Friday in Asunción. He added that U S was concerned about what he described as “illegal activities” taking place in the Triple Frontier zone between Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil.



“We know that there are illegal activities and that terrorist groups are financed there”.


(snip)

Johnson said that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) would open an office in Asunción in 2007. It would be similar to those it has maintained since the 1990s in Buenos Aires and other South American capitals.



(SNIP)



Argentine Defence Minister José Pampuro said earlier this month that Argentina would be “concerned” if a temporary accord between Paraguay and the US to allow the presence of US troops on Paraguayan territory became permanent. Argentine Foreign Minister Rafael Bielsa said that “the region needs no US base”.

MORE

[natrat]

1. but literally everything this government says is deceitful

[Wrinkle_In_Time]

4. Should Venezuela be worried?

I realize that Paraguay is some distance from Venezuela, but given Chavez's many recent bitch-slaps to the U.S. administration...

Kevin Johnson, an adviser for the embassy, said the US troops’ presence in Paraguay was in line with a programme of military manoeuvres carried out by both countries since 1948.

“My government does not want to establish a military base,” he said in reports published on Friday in Asunción. He added that U S was concerned about what he described as “illegal activities” taking place in the Triple Frontier zone between Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil.

“We know that there are illegal activities and that terrorist groups are financed there”.

OK, Kevin Johnson {like that's a real name} just played the 'terrorist' card. Be worried.

[sarcasmo]

15. The answer is, of Course.

[DemoTex]

2. What did you expect? Rummy was down there two months ago.

The motives elude me, but Stroessner's regime might just be a model for the Bu$h plan. Little Hitler in Paraguay. This is bad, bad news folks. Bu$hco is way more out of control than we ever thought.

Mac

[leftchick]

6. I am begining to think this is not as bad as we think

Their intentions are bad of course but WTF? Where in the hell is the money going to come for their grand plans?

[Roland99]

11. And Rummy was visiting Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan quite a bit, too

and he was trying to get bases setup there.

Hmmm

[IChing]

3. Well lets us look into some known facts-which are undeniable.

US Military Establishes Base in Paraguay

Preparations made to "spread democracy"

by Benjamin Dangl


The Estigarribia airbase. photo: Clarin
Controversy is raging in Paraguay, where the US military is conducting secretive operations. 500 US troops arrived in the country on July 1st with planes, weapons and ammunition. Eyewitness reports prove that an airbase exists in Mariscal Estigarribia, Paraguay, which is 200 kilometers from the border with Bolivia and may be utilized by the US military. Officials in Paraguay claim the military operations are routine humanitarian efforts and deny that any plans are underway for a US base. Yet human rights gropsin the area are deeply worried.
White House officials are using rhetoric about terrorist threats in the tri-border region (where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet) in order to build their case for military operations, in many ways reminiscent to the build up to the invasion of Iraq. <1>

The tri-border area is home to the Guarani Aquifer, one of the world's largest reserves of water. Near the Estigarribia airbase are Bolivia's natural gas reserves, the second largest in Latin America. Political analysts believe US operations in Paraguay are part of a preventative war to control these natural resources and suppress social uprisings in Bolivia.

Argentine Nobel Peace Prize laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel commented on the situation in Paraguay, "Once the United States arrives, it takes it a long time to leave. And that really frightens me." <2>

The Estigarribia airbase was constructed in the 1980s for US technicians hired by the Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner, and is capable of housing 16,000 troops. A journalist writing for the Argentine newspaper Clarin, recently visited the base and reported it to be in perfect condition, capable of handling large military planes. It's oversized for the Paraguayan air force, which only has a handful of small aircraft. The base has an enormous radar system, huge hangars and an air traffic control tower. The airstrip itself is larger than the one at the international airport in Asuncion, the Paraguayan capital. Near the base is a military camp which has recently grown in size. <3>>>>.snip

http://dominionpaper.ca/accounts/2005/09/23/us_militar.html

[Judi Lynn]

10. More from your excellent article:

"Estigarribia is ideal because it is operable throughout the year…I am sure that the US presence will increase," said Paraguayan defense analyst Horacio Galeano Perrone. <4>
(snip)

On May 26, 2005 the Paraguayan Senate granted the US troops total immunity from national and International Criminal Court jurisdiction until December 2006. The legislation is automatically extendable. Since December 2004, the US has been pressuring Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela and Paraguay into signing a deal which would grant immunity to US 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 immunity deal. Paraguay was the only country to accept the offer. <8>

Coup Warning in Bolivia

The proximity of the Estigarribia base to Bolivian natural gas reserves, and the fact that the military operations coincide with a presidential election in Bolivia, has also been a cause for concern. The election is scheduled to take place on December 4 2005. Bolivian Workers' Union leader Jaime Solares, and Movement Toward Socialism (M.A.S.) Legislator Antonio Peredo, have warned of US plans for a military coup to frustrate the elections. Solares said the US Embassy backs rightwing ex-President Jorge Quiroga in his bid for office, and will go as far as necessary to prevent any other candidate's victory. <9>
(snip)

This is going to be a critical time from now until after the next Bolivian election. So much is at stake. I'm certain _Bush has every intention of preventing the Bolivian people's beloved leader, Evo Morales, from being elected.They've been implying his popularity now is a product of Chavez's "meddling" in Bolivian affairs, a contemptible lie. He's popular due to his own actions, his intentions to put his people's interests ahead of corporate designs on Bolivian resources.

[OKthatsIT]

5. LIARS

[peacetalksforall]

7. Yes, I can't wait for Ms. Liar Extraordinaire to come up next with

her lies.

Looks like -

They will first take Bolivia.
Then they will declare that they own the Aqua Fir.
Then they will announce that Rev. Moon is President of Paraguay.
Then they will announce a war against Brazil.

[steely]

8. Why maintain bases in the states, when you can have'em ...

elsewhere? :sarcasm:

[Polethebear]

9. Maybe Bush's is outsourcing our milltary!!!!

:rofl:


Seriously folks this just sounds like a wild rumor to me.Honestly...

[IChing]

12. "Maybe Bush's is outsourcing our milltary!!!! There is no maybe on that

Don't read much on posts do you.
Do you need links to blackwater, Haliburton, CACI and Titan Corp .

http://multinationalmonitor.org/mm2004/04march/march04editorial.html
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/outsourcing_blame.php
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1920800

Do you want read posts on this page?
Azerbaijan: U.S. Financing Radar Station Near Iranian Border Say Reports

Plus the posts in this thread? #3, #10?

then comment with something more educated

vs your opinion.

[Polethebear]

14. Sheesh.............

Now I'm seeing how this board can get.:hide: :wow: :yoiks:


I am well aware of hailburton. I was talking about passing control to another country or hiring cheap forigen labor for soilders.

[goforit]

13. Yep.....Those S.A. countries should be concerned and appalled!!!