Spotlight on US troops in Paraguay

Concern is mounting in South America over a series of 13 joint military exercises involving US special forces in Paraguay.

The exercises began in July and are due to run until December 2006.

The Paraguayan foreign ministry and the US embassy in Asuncion have both released statements denying that the US is planning to establish a permanent military base at Mariscal Estigarribia in the Chaco region, close to the border with Bolivia.

But this has failed to reassure Paraguay's neighbours, who point out the same was said of the Manta Base in Ecuador, shortly before the country signed a 10-year agreement with the US air force in November 1999.