US denies setting up military base in Paraguay (Yeah Right!)

The United States Embassy in Asunción has denied an allegation which caused concern in Mercosur that Washington was planning to set up a military base in Paraguay.

Kevin Johnson, an adviser for the embassy, said the US troops' presence in Paraguay was in line with a programme of military manoeuvres carried out by both countries since 1948.

"My government does not want to establish a military base," (bullshit) he said in reports published on Friday in Asunción. He added that U S was concerned about what he described as "illegal activities" (American illegal activities) taking place in the Triple Frontier zone between Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil.

"We know that there are illegal activities and that terrorist groups are financed there". (Why are all U.S. soldiers in Paraguay being given diplomatic immunity?)

One year ago, on the occasion of the kidnapping and killing of Cecilia Cubas, daughter of former Paraguayan president Raul Cubas, President Nicanor Duarte Frutos asked for the cooperation of his US counterpart George W. Bush, said Johnson.

Investigation results showed that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, that country's largest rebel group, was operating in Paraguay, he added. (oh just a hop, skip, and a jump to Colombia)

Johnson said that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) would open an office in Asunción in 2007. It would be similar to those it has maintained since the 1990s in Buenos Aires and other South American capitals.