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"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," <i>Toward Freedom</i>'s Benjamin Dangl [http://towardfreedom.com/home/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=593 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]]."

"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 [[Hezbollah|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 [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=12643 wrote] March 19, 2004, in ''FrontPageMagazine.com''.

"The tri-border area is home to the [[Guaraní Aquifer|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 [http://towardfreedom.com/home/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=593 wrote].

"On May 26, 2005 the Paraguayan Senate granted the U.S. troops total immunity from national and [[International Criminal Court]] jurisdiction until December 2006. The legislation is automatically extendable. Since December 2004, 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 immunity deal." Dangl [http://towardfreedom.com/home/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=593 wrote].

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