Secret Invasion: US Troops Steal into Paraguay

[IndianaGreen]

Across the border from Paraguay lies Bolivia's rich natural gas fields, one of the largest deposits in the world. Bolivia just elected an indigenous Bolivian President, the leftist Evo Morales, much to the chagring of the Bush dictatorship.

Secret Invasion: US Troops Steal into Paraguay

By W.T. Whitney Jr

The Bush administration has sent troops into Paraguay. They are there ostensibly for humanitarian and counterterrorism purposes. The action coincides with growing left unity in South America, military buildup in the region and burgeoning independent trade relationships.

In a speech on July 26 in Havana, Fidel Castro took note of the incursion and called upon North American activists to oppose it. In that vein, an inquiry is in order as to why the US government has inserted Paraguay into its strategic plan for South America. In addition, we should look at factors that favor Bush administration schemes for the region and others that work against US plans.

In December 2004, the Bush administration canceled $330 million in economic and military aid to 10 South American countries. They were being penalized for turning down a US request for granting its soldiers immunity from prosecution for crimes they commit within the countries’ borders.

On May 5, however, the government of Paraguay took the bait. It signed an agreement authorizing an 18-month stay, automatically extended, for US soldiers and civilian employees. The previous limit had been set at six months. On May 26, in a secret session, Paraguay’s Congress passed legislation protecting US soldiers from prosecution for criminal activity, both within Paraguay and by the International Criminal Court.

Reportedly, 400 or 500 US troops – estimates vary – arrived in Paraguay on July 1, with planes, weapons, equipment and ammunition. They are billeted at a base near Mariscal Estigarribia, a small city located 200 kilometers from the Bolivian border in the arid, sparsely populated Chaco area of Paraguay. That facility, built by US contractors in the waning years of the Stroessner dictatorship (1954-1989), offers a runway long enough to accommodate large military transport planes and bombers. It provides barrack space for 16,000 troops.

http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/2479/1/140/

[Clara T]

1. rec'd

natural gas reserves in Bolivia are increasingly important as Iran gas reserves become pricier as US dollar loses its influence in ME as ....

America thinking it has built itself through hard work of a "great nation" is BS unless you consider the back breaking hard work of other nations that fed and propped the beast.

Most USians are relatively clueless as to the source of all the raw materials for all the stuff that appears on the mall shelves.

[bemildred]

2. Chavez Warns of American Conspiracy in Bolivia

Venezuela President Hugo Chavez warned the US may be attempting to overturn Evo Morales who was chosen to the state presidency in Bolivia.

In his speech at Fort Tiuna military base at Karakas, Chavez said: “I am sure that the US ambassador in Bolivia has initiated a plot against Morales. I am also sure that American military personnel have met with leaders who want a local coup.”

Hugo Chavez said the Venezuelan government will stand against any attempts by the Washington administration to overturn Morales; however he did not give any details.

Morales, the first locally elected president of Bolivia and supported by Chavez in economic and political terms, is in South Africa in the frame of his world tour that will include countries from Europe to China.

http://www.zaman.com/?bl=hotnews&alt=&trh=20060111&hn=28506

[bemildred]

3. Peru's Toledo Says Chavez Is `Destabilizing' Region (Update1)

It appears since they can't get Uribe to play the anti-Chavez stooge, they have brought in Toledo. Given Toledo's low one-digit approval numbers, this has to be considered a desperation move on the order of getting Pinochet to attack Chavez.

Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is ``destabilizing'' Latin America by interfering in his neighbors' internal affairs.

``Chavez is president of Venezuela, not of Latin America,'' Toledo said in an interview with Radioprogramas in Lima. ``He can have all the petrodollars he wants, but that doesn't give him the right to destabilize the region.''

Toledo recalled his ambassador to Caracas on Jan. 4 to protest Chavez's public support for Peruvian presidential candidate Ollanta Humala. Like Chavez, Humala is a former army lieutenant colonel who led an uprising against his government.

Chavez followed up his comments on Humala by saying yesterday that former congresswoman Lourdes Flores, who is in first in most presidential polls, is the candidate of Peru's oligarchy.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000086&sid=avt1OBowAv70&refer=latin_america

[IndianaGreen]

4. CIA can always put Fujimore back in power

Fujimore was always willing to play along with Washington, even though he is despised in Peru.

[bemildred]

6. They seem worried about the new "populist" guy in Peru.

And Fujimori doesn't seem to be able to get much traction so far.
But you can bet they will try to do something, esp. WRT Morales.
On the other hand, there is every reason to hope that the Bushites
will continue their long and consistent string of foreign policy failures.

[bemildred]

8. Peru bans ex-president's election bid

Peru's former President Alberto Fujimori, fighting extradition from a Chilean jail on charges of graft and involvement in murder, is barred from running for president because congress banned him from holding office, election officials ruled.

The decision of Peru's electoral board, published yesterday in the state gazette El Peruano, derails Fujimori's plan to seek a fourth term, which he pledged to do after arriving in Chile Nov. 7 from five years of exile in Japan. Chilean authorities arrested and jailed Fujimori, 73, while considering Peru's request that he be turned over for trial.

Fujimori's backers will appeal the ruling, said Martha Chavez, general secretary of Fujimori's New Majority party. Chavez, 52, registered her own candidacy this week with Fujimori's brother Santiago as running mate and his daughter Keiko Sofia as a congressional candidate. They will run in the event the appeal is rejected, Chavez said.

http://www.falkland-malvinas.com/Detalle.asp?NUM=7044

[phoebe]

5. great article, here's another shorter one from the BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4289224.stm

September 28, 2005

snip

Concern is mounting in South America over a series of 13 joint military exercises involving US special forces in Paraguay.

snip

The Paraguayan foreign ministry and the US embassy in Asuncion have both released statements denying that the US is planning to establish a permanent military base at Mariscal Estigarribia in the Chaco region, close to the border with Bolivia.

But this has failed to reassure Paraguay's neighbours, who point out the same was said of the Manta Base in Ecuador, shortly before the country signed a 10-year agreement with the US air force in November 1999.

snip

One popular theory is that the deal is an attempt to break up Mercosur, by offering Paraguay its own bilateral free trade agreement in exchange for a US military base.

and another

http://www.coha.org/NEW_PRESS_RELEASES/New_Press_Releases_2005/05.78_Washington_Secure_Long_Sought_Military_Outpost_Perhaps_At_the_Expense_of_Regional_Soverignty.htm


Whenever narcotrafficking is referred to - think School of the Americas or whatever it is now known as..the thugs "we" train there are usually put in place under this sort of pretense..

[bemildred]

7. Bolivia President-elect Morales ready to talk to US

PRETORIA (AFX) - Bolivia's president-elect Evo Morales said he was ready to open dialogue with Washington.

"All dialogue aimed at ending poverty and discrimination is welcome," Morales said in Pretoria after meeting South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Washington said earlier this week it is seeking talks with Morales in order to maintain the "extremely positive" ties the two countries have enjoyed.

Morales is on an international tour which takes in Cuba, Venezuela, France, Spain and China as well South Africa.

http://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=afxnews&articleid=5519324&subject=economic&action=article

[XemaSab]

9. There have been a LOT of troops

in EVERY south american nation for DECADES.