USA to invade Bolivia to seize its gas?

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Bolivia has enormous gas reserves.

http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/627/627p24.htm

"In 1967, Che Guevara died at the hands of CIA-backed Bolivian soldiers while attempting to lead a guerrilla struggle in Bolivia.

"Almost four decades after Che’s murder, Bolivia’s poor and indigenous masses are keeping his revolutionary legacy very much alive as they fight to secure their country’s resources and future."

http://www.altpr.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=465&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0What

Benjamin Dangle , at Alternative Press Review, asks: 'What is the U.S. Military Doing in Paraguay?'

According to an article in the Bolivian newspaper, El Deber, a U.S. base is being developed 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. http://www.eldeber.com.bo/20050707/nacional_2.html

Dangle writes: "With Bolivia’s recent uprisings, their enormous gas reserves, and a presidential election on the way, this questionable activity could pave the way for a U.S. intervention. Rumors of Al Qaeda training grounds near Paraguay may also work to the Bush administration’s advantage as it makes a case for military operations in the region."

The US embassy claims that the U.S. has “absolutely no intention of establishing a military base anywhere in Paraguay” and “has no intention to station soldiers for a lengthy period in Paraguay.”

Dangle points out that: "The Pentagon used this same rhetoric when describing its actions in Manta, Ecuador, now the home of an $80 million U.S. military base.... Human rights groups have linked the U.S. base in Manta to the 2002 coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez."

Servicio Paz y Justicia (SERPAJ) is a human rights group in Paraguay. Orlando Castillo of SERPAJ stated:

“The U.S. has strong aspirations to convert Paraguay into another Panama for their troops, and they’re not far from controlling the southern cone and extending the war in Colombia.”

A U.S. military base operated in Panama for nearly 90 years.

Dangle writes: "If new civil unrest occurs over the gas issue, the U.S. military will be in a strategic position to intervene..."

Bolivia has a presidential election in December 2005.

Dangle suggests that if a candidate unpopular with the Bush administration is elected, "then the U.S. could be poised to disrupt Bolivia’s democratic process, as they did during the 2002 Venezuelan coup and the 2004 ousting of Haitian president Bertram Aristide."

Dangle explains that the border between Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil is rumored to be an “Islamic terrorist training ground.”

Dangle explains:

"As we’ve seen in Iraq, the Bush administration understands that the 'war on terror' can serve as a great excuse to claim natural resources. The U.S. military activity in Paraguay combined with the triple border terrorist theory and the gas reserves in a precarious Bolivia, sound like a recipe for another U.S. 'democracy spreading' bonanza."

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http://www.airforcetimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1040106.php

August 17, 2005

"Rumsfeld’s frequent visits to the region — it’s his third such trip in 10 months — come amid concerns about what U.S. officials call stepped-up efforts by Cuba and Venezuela to install more leftist governments in Latin America by targeting volatile countries like Bolivia.

"In Paraguay’s capital city, Rumsfeld met with President Nicanor Duarte Frutos and was meeting with Minister of Defense Roberto Gonzalez Segovia, in part, to gauge their views on the escalating involvement of Cuban President Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in the region."

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