US Army to Train Paraguay Soldiers Amid Militarization Concerns
US Army to Train Paraguay Soldiers Amid Militarization Concerns
Published 12 May 2015
Analysts are worried about Washington’s growing military presence in the region.
Special United States army forces will arrive in Paraguay this month to train local soldiers as part of a bilateral agreement between the two countries, in what some analysts call a step towards U.S. militarization of the region.
The U.S. trainers from the North Carolina National Guard were given the green light by Paraguay's Chamber of Senators this week to bring in equipment, weapons and ammunition to be used in joint exercises.
The announcement comes as some analysts raise concerns about the presence of the U.S. forces in Paraguay – where recently a new Emergency Operations Center has also been established in the north of the country under the control of the U.S. military.
The area known as the Gran Chaco region, which is rich in hydrocarbons, particularly oil, has also been a point of contention between neighbors, particularly between Paraguay and Bolivia during the Chaco War (1928-1935).
More:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/US-Army-to-Train-Paraguay-Soldiers-Amid-Militarization-Concerns-20150512-0026.html
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"According to Pablo Ruiz, a member of the Observers of the School of the Americas, Washington is “militarizing” the region in a strategic manner to take over the area's natural resources."
“Their geopolitical interests that have to do with access to resources,” such as “oil, freshwater, biodiversity or minerals,” said Ruiz, reported Resumen Latino Americano. This is essential “to continue to maintain U.S. rule” of the region, says the academic."
Thanks, Judi Lynn. It just never ends. Very sad to read this. 
and their control over the country was completely re-established, it's "hello, soldiers," time all over again.
The US waved fondly at their former dictator, Alfredo Stroessner, for his 35 years of amoral control of Paraguay, including his genocide of Native Paraguayan citizens, and the vicious abuse of the survivors, torture, and sending the children into slavery.
He allowed the US to built the colossal airbase out in the jungle, close to nowhere, so large it would allow the largest transport aircraft in the US.
From Wikipedia:
U.S. military presence in Paraguay
U.S. secret military operations
"Controversy is raging in Paraguay, where the U.S. military is conducting secretive operations. 500 U.S. troops arrived in the country on July 1st with planes, weapons and ammunition," Toward Freedom's Benjamin Dangl wrote September 15, 2005. "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 U.S. military. Officials in Paraguay claim the military operations are routine humanitarian efforts and deny that any plans are underway for a U.S. 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, in many ways reminiscent to the build up to the invasion of Iraq."
Tri-border region
"Located where Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay meet, the area is home to roughly 20,000 Middle Eastern immigrants—mostly from Lebanon and Syria—and has long been a hotbed for terrorist fundraising, arms and drug trafficking, counterfeiting and money laundering. By moving freely through the region’s porous borders, operatives from the terrorist organizations Hizbollah, Hamas, and according to some reports, al-Qaeda, are able to conduct arms-for-drugs deals with secular Latin American terrorist groups like the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and Peru’s Sendero Luminosos (Shining Path). All told, U.S. officials believe that between $10 and $12 billion is funneled through the tri-border region each year, with Hizbollah among the prime beneficiaries," Erick Stakelbeck wrote March 19, 2004, in FrontPageMagazine.com.
Natural Resources
"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 U.S. operations in Paraguay are part of a preventative war to control these natural resources and suppress social uprisings in Bolivia," Dangl wrote.
Mariscal Estigarribia airbase
"The Estigarribia airbase was constructed in the 1980s for U.S. technicians hired by the Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner, and is capable of housing 16,000 troops," Dangl wrote. "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."
More:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=U.S._military_presence_in_Paraguay
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Mariscal Estigarribia
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One of Parquay's buses attempting to go somewhere on one of Paraguay's fine roads. During Stroessner's "Presidency" (he took over after a coup) Paraguay became the South American country with the fewest paved roads. What a ####ing distinction.