[Peace-discuss] Fears mount as US opens new military installation in Paraguay

[Lisa Chason]

Fears mount as US opens new military installation in Paraguay 

By Benjamin Dangl 

10/05/05 "Excalibur
<http://www.excal.on.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=903&Itemid
=2> " -- -- Controversy is raging in Paraguay, where the US military is
conducting secretive operations. Five hundred US troops arrived in the
country on Jul. 1, 2005 with planes, weapons and ammunition. Eyewitness
reports prove that an airbase exists in Mariscal Estigarribia, Paraguay,
which is 200 kilometres from its 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 groups in 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, which are in many ways reminiscent of the
build up to the invasion of Iraq. 

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. 

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

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 Argentinian 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 aircrafts. 
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. 

"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. 

Denials and immunity

"The national government has not reached any agreement with the United
States for the establishment of a US military base in Paraguay," states a
communiqué signed by Paraguayan foreign minister Leila Rachid. The US
Embassy in Paraguay has also released statements officially denying plans to
set up a military base in the country. 
The Pentagon used this same language when describing its actions in Manta,
Ecuador, now the home of an $80 million US military base. First, they said
the facility was an archaic "dirt strip", which would be used for weather
monitoring and would not permanently house US personnel. Days later, the
Pentagon stated that Manta was to serve as a major military base tasked with
a variety of security-related missions. 

Paraguayan political analyst and historian Milda Rivarola said that, "In
practice, there has already been a [US] base operating in Paraguay for over
50 years." The US armed forces have had an ongoing presence in the country,
she said. "In the past, they needed congressional authorization every six
months, but now they have been granted permission to be here for a year and
a half." 

On May 26, 2005 the Paraguayan Senate granted the US troops total immunity
from national and international criminal court jurisdiction until Dec. 2006.
The legislation is automatically extendable. Since Dec. 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. 

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 Dec. 4, 2005. Bolivian Workers Union leader Jaime Solares and
Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) legislator Antonio Peredo, have warned of US
plans for a military coup to frustrate the elections. Solares said the US
Embassy backs right wing ex-president Jorge Quiroga in his bid for office,
and will go as far as necessary to prevent any other candidate's victory. 

The most recent national poll showed left wing MAS congressman Evo Morales
was barely one point behind Quiroga in the race. Solares said there were
calls in Jun. 2005 for a military coup during the massive protests that
toppled president Carlos Mesa. Recent US military operations in neighboring
Paraguay would facilitate such an intervention. 

The Bush administration played a key role in the 2002 coup against president
Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and the 2004 ousting of Haitian president Jean
Bertrand Aristide. 

The Tri-Border terror theory

In March, William Pope, the US State Department's principal deputy
coordinator of counterterrorism, said that 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik
Mohammed is believed to have visited the tri-border area for several weeks
in 1995. Defense officials say that Hezbollah and Hamas, radical Islamic
groups from the Middle East, "get a lot of funding" from this tri-border
area, and that further unrest in the region could leave a political "black
hole" that would erode other democratic efforts. 

Military analysts from Uruguay and Bolivia maintain that the threat of
terrorism is often used by the US as an excuse for military intervention and
the monopolization of natural resources. In the case of Paraguay, the US may
be preparing to secure the Guarani water reserves and Bolivia's natural gas.


In spite of frequent attempts to link terror networks to the tri-border
area, there is little proof of the connection. However, this did not prevent
the US from "liberating" Iraq in 2003. As secretary of defense Donald
Rumsfeld argued during the debate over weapons of mass destruction in Iraq,
"Simply because you do not have evidence that something does exist does not
mean that you have evidence that it doesn't exist." 

Paraguayan and US officials contend that much of the recent military
collaborations are based on health and humanitarian work. However, State
Department reports do not mention any funding for health works in Paraguay.
They do mention that funding for the Counterterrorism Fellowship Program
(CTFP) in the country doubled for 2005.
The report explained, "Bilateral relations between the US and Paraguay are
strong, with Paraguay providing excellent cooperation in the fight against
terrorism ... CTFP provided funds for Paraguayans to attend courses on the
dynamics of international terrorism, and the importance and application of
intelligence in combating terrorism."

Col. Hugo Mendoza of the Paraguayan army said he's thankful the US military
is helping Paraguay meet security threats through the joint exercises.
"We're learning new things and working with new equipment and the latest
technology which we would not be able to afford otherwise." 

Journalist and human rights activist Alfredo Boccia Paz said, "These
missions are always disguised as humanitarian aid ... what Paraguay does not
and cannot control is the total number of agents that enter the country."

Meanwhile, neighboring countries have not warmly received the news of the
military activity. The Chilean Communist Party demanded that Paraguayan
president Nicanor Duarte "reconsider and cancel" recent military deals with
the US as they are "extremely serious for Latin America." 

In Paraguay, human rights and activist organizations have mobilized against
the military activity. When Donald Rumsfeld visited the country in August,
protesters greeted his entourage with chants such as, "Rumsfeld, you
fascist, you are the terrorist!" as a military band welcomed him by playing
the "Star Spangled Banner". 

 
 
The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men: Plato

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