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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''.