U.S. Building South American Stronghold

According to an article in the Bolivian newspaper, El Deber, the U.S. military is building a large base 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. The U.S. embassy in Paraguay denied that a base was being built and described the military activity as routine.

The Paraguayan senate approved the entrance of the troops in May of this year, granting them total immunity, free from Paraguayan and International Criminal Court jurisdiction.
With Bolivia’s recent uprisings, their enormous gas reserves, and a presidential election on the way, their is speculation, the U.S. might intervene. U.S. suggestions that there might be Al Qaeda training grounds near Paraguay are expected to work to the the Bush administration’s advantage should it wish to make a case for military operations in the region.

Over the past two years, 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. So far, Paraguay is the only country to accept the offer.