Bush Buys Land in Northern Paraguay

[brainshrub]

http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID={EBA55617-2676-4091-ABBC-20650EB6FEE1}&language=EN

Bush knows what he's done, and that he's going to be held accountable for his actions one day. And, like the typical chickenhawk he is, he's getting ready to flee.

Buenos Aires, Oct 13 (Prensa Latina) An Argentine official regarded the intention of the George W. Bush family to settle on the Acuifero Guarani (Paraguay) as surprising, besides being a bad signal for the governments of the region.

Luis D Elia, undersecretary for the Social Habitat in the Argentine Federal Planning Ministry, issued a memo partially reproduced by digital INFOBAE.com, in which he spoke of the purchase by Bush of a 98,842-acre farm in northern Paraguay, between Brazil and Bolivia.

[rfranklin]

1. This is too good to be true! Like a former Nazi, fleeing to SA

Can this be verified by other sources?

[Haole Girl]

32. My very first thought, too

:hi:

[Delphinus]

33. I posted two links

in a thread over in General Discussion yesterday. Here's the link to what I posted:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2397803&mesg_id=2397871

[katinmn]

2. Paraguay must not extradite!

[rfranklin]

5. According to the 1999 treaty, he can be extradited to U.S.

http://www.oas.org/juridico/mla/en/traites/en_traites-ext-usa-pry.pdf

Unless I missed something.

[katinmn]

20. That's good to know. I thought the little bugger picked a country

where he could hide, like the Nazis.

[Demeter]

24. I'm Not Sure There Are Any, Any More

I would have thought he'd pick Saudi Arabia, seeing as they are his chief client and close cousins. So that's what Jenna was doing down there? Verrry Iiinteresting!

Bush must not be very scared of Chavez, then. Or he's a total idiot.

[Mika]

28. Unless there is a likelyhood that he would be subjected to torture.

That's the same logic used by the US to prevent the extradition of terrorist Luis Posada to Venezuela.

Except for one big difference.. the US has a grim record of torturing suspects.

[bemildred]

3. A good investment.

That water will be worth money some day.

[asjr]

4. Hummm! i wonder if that is enough

acreage to house all the rest of the crooks? Will it be named Bushville?

[Demeter]

25. You Are Presuming That Bush Would Take Responsibility For His Cronies

Bush, take responsibility? ROTFLMAO! I doubt he'd even rent to them!

[LA lady]

6. Twins

Isn't one of the twins there now? I think it's Jenna.

[katinmn]

21. I read on DU that Jenna is volunteering in Panama

[rodeodance]

7. it would be for mineral rights: more here

..... The news circulated Thursday in non-official sources in Asuncion, Paraguay.

D Elia considered this Bush step counterproductive for the regional power expressed by Presidents Nestor Kirchner, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Evo Morales, Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro.

He said that "it is a bad signal that the Bush family is doing business with natural resources linked to the future of MERCOSUR."

The official pointed out that this situation could cause a hypothetical conflict of all the armies in the region, and called attention to the Bush family habit of associating business and politics.

ef ccs tac rmh

PL-38

[WCGreen]

17. You this guy could shit diamonds, and he would still fuck that

up too...

[C_U_L8R]

8. Bush can run but he can't hide

Has Bush put the finishing touches on his spider hole yet ???

:rofl:

[whistle]

9. 98,842 acres is twice the size of Walt Disney World in Orlando FL

...do you think....:wtf:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/Around_the_World/Countries/Paraguay/Maps/&h=614&w=511&sz=42&tbnid=hVTyeBdmd5UU3M:&tbnh=136&tbnw=113&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dparaguay%2Bmap&start=3&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=3

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/pa.html

[bluestateguy]

10. No extradition treaty with the US?

I think it unlikely that he would ever be held accountable, even if a liberal Democrat was elected in 2008, but he may just want to cover his bases just in case.

[Javaman]

11. Argentina, huh? maybe he just wants to be close to his

nazi loving relatives.

:shrug:

[flordehinojos]

12. this not only is not good news for the paraguayans

it also is not good news for south america!

"D Elia considered this Bush step counterproductive for the regional power expressed by Presidents Nestor Kirchner, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Evo Morales, Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro.



He said that "it is a bad signal that the Bush family is doing business with natural resources linked to the future of MERCOSUR."



The official pointed out that this situation could cause a hypothetical conflict of all the armies in the region, and called attention to the Bush family habit of associating business and politics."

the bush hydra grows as the bush tentacles grab and grab

[Ian David]

16. Is Bush Immenatizing The Eschaton again? n/t

[Double T]

13. The former 'dictator' will live in exile............

until 'HE' is brought to the Hague to be tried for 'war crimes against humanity'.

[eagler]

14. Wonder if this is related to Reverend Moon's holding there?

http://www.consortiumnews.com/archive/moon1.html

[alfredo]

31. I'd say yes. They have the same goal of world domination.

[Ian David]

15. He'll be protected by a private army of Reagan/Bush Sr. drug warriors

Those Contra and Noriega CIA drug-dealing contacts are sure going to come in handy for Shrub.

By the way... is this a credible source?

[Zorra]

18. For some reason, the name "Custer" comes to mind. n/t

[underpants]

19. Hey Paraguay you can keep him

:hi:

Free, no charge

[jdog]

22. Any chance we could get him to move there NOW???? n/t

[area51]

23. Hear, hear. (n/t)

[Judi Lynn]

26. Paraguay has been a fine Nazi hideout, even for Mengele.....

Monday, September 25th, 2006
Press Releases, Paraguay
Paraguay-U.S. Post-Stroessner Relations

• Death of notorious Paraguayan dictator General Alfredo Stroessner at age 93 barely causes a stir
  
• The Reagan administration had cooled ties with the Stroessner regime in a token gesture to feign an abiding concern regarding Latin America’s human rights standards
  
• The Bush administration is offering carrots in the form of military and democratization assistance in exchange for a possible convenient location to project a military presence in the Southern Cone region

General Alfredo Stroessner, Paraguay’s long-time dictator, died on August 16 at the age of 93 after almost two decades of exile in Brazil. His thirty-year reign was so repressive that even the selectively principled Reagan administration decided to distance itself from his authoritarian rule. The U.S. has since rekindled its relations with the struggling republic, currently providing both military assistance and guidance in the democratization process. However, Paraguayans may want to be wary of these handouts. Philanthropy is not the Bush administration’s strong suit and the White House may be acting entirely in its own interests.

Life and Times of a Dictator

Stroessner seized power in 1954, after leading a golpe de estado against President Federico Chávez. His subsequent decades as the perpetual leader of the Asociación Nacional Republicana/Partido Colorado were characterized by massive corruption, endemic human rights abuses and systematic acts of violence against purported “enemies of the state.” Stroessner also provided hospitality to a wide array of former Nazi leaders following World War II, including the concentration camp experimenter Dr. Josef Mengele, whom he personally protected despite repeated international demands that he be extradited to Israel. Stroessner routinely imprisoned scores of Paraguayan political opponents, some of whom later insisted that they had endured unethical medical experiments under Mengele’s jurisdiction. The strongman also was notorious for his role in Operation Condor, a computerized network of intelligence agencies linking Southern Cone right-wing dictatorships via a U.S.-supplied station, whose purpose was to root out and eliminate exiled political dissidents who sought refuge in nearby nations.
(snip)

On May 5, 2005, the Paraguayan Congress approved a measure allowing U.S. Special Forces to conduct a series of 13 military exercises at Mariscal Estigarribia, a military air base built in the 1980s with American assistance. Among other themes, the 13 exercises were to consist of counter-terrorism and domestic peacekeeping exercises— carefully selected choices, considering the alleged threat emanating from the tri-border area and the constant tension between the armed peasants and the military authorities. Confronted by international speculation that the U.S. forces coming into Paraguay to establish a military base would only be the vanguard of a larger future presence, the Bush administration took great pains to differentiate between military aid and an armed deployment. Unsurprisingly, this did little to calm regional fears, due to the increasing U.S. military presence in Paraguay. To express his gratitude for American aid, President Duarte also granted the U.S. soldiers diplomatic immunity while on Paraguayan soil, thus denying the Paraguayan courts the prerogative of hearing any crimes that might be perpetrated by U.S. personnel.

In addition to these exercises, SOUTHCOM personnel stationed in Paraguay are able to penetrate rural communities by providing humanitarian services for the peasant population; upwards of 30 U.S. military medical personnel have traveled to remote areas to oversee health clinics. Some local skeptics contend that these visits are more for reconnaissance than for actual health care, as some personnel have been seen filming the area and collecting data on the peasant populations before departing. Whether these videos are intended for future healthcare workers or for the Paraguayan anti-guerrilla units remains unclear, but the fact that SOUTHCOM’s tactics have left some locals very nervous shows the extent of skepticism towards U.S. military activity in the area.
(snip)

http://www.coha.org/2006/09/25/paraguay-%E2%80%93-us-post-stroessner-relations/



Paraguay's current President, Nicanor Duarte

[dubykc]

27. Even if there is an extradition treaty...

Bush will have enough money to ensure he's never sent back to the good ol' US of A.

[CJCRANE]

29. That's a hell of a lot of brush!

That'll keep him busy!

[alfredo]

30. If other members of his Junta are doing likewise, I would be

more inclined to think they are going to bug out on us.

[54anickel]

34. Could just be an insider investment decision. Sell or lease back to

the US for military bases. Been a lot of talk about permanent bases down there for quite awhile. Or maybe a piece of the drug mafia pie, or water, or some of the other resources in the area. Damn well know it has something to do with money, power and greed - it's the BFEE's number one agenda.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/HH04Aa01.html

snip>

It's useful to remember that soon after September 11, 2001, notorious neo-con Douglas Feith suggested to George W Bush an air invasion of the Triple Border - where the boundaries of Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet - to capture al-Qaeda fighters and permanently occupy the region. No wonder that as early as 2002 a study by the Brazilian army was asking whether "these armed forces that ring the border of Brazil, especially in the Amazon region", could be used "for reasons that are undeclared".

Although the Paraguayans insist these troops are in the country on a "temporary" basis, they may represent a giant step toward Washington's setting up a US military base very close to the Triple Border. Way back in 1982, the US built and started operating a semi-clandestine airstrip in Mariscal Estigarribia, in the Chaco region in northern Paraguay near the Bolivian border, where B-52 bombers and C-5 Galaxy cargo planes are able to land with no hassle. The airstrip is literally in the middle of dense forest. It also happens to be only 270 kilometers from the Brazilian border.

Some Brazilian diplomats bet off the record that a US permanent base is all but inevitable. But maybe not, as Brazil is known to play hardball with Paraguay.
Significantly, the US-Paraguay military agreement happened right when President Duarte was struggling against social movements contrary to his privatization wave, and peasant movements fighting for more land.

snip>

Eyes on the loot
The Grand Prize may not be only the fabulous freshwater wealth of the Guarani Aquifer. There are also the huge gas reserves of Bolivia, and great unexplored reserves of carbon in southern Brazil, not to mention Venezuelan oil. It all comes back once again to the 21st-century energy wars.

The "training" provided by the US forces is the usual mix of combat and counter-insurgency and counter-terror theory. After that, it could be adapted for use against any "terrorist" threat. For Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, the Bush administration's real target is to smash popular movements and governments in South America.

Muy amigo

The Washington-Asuncion axis has been a stellar accomplishment of President Nicanor Duarte, who came to power in August 2003. Duarte is described by economic analyst Pablo Herken as "populist, demagogue, charlatan, liar, incoherent, authoritarian, rancorous and irresponsible".

The supreme Pentagon obsession remains the Triple Border and Ciudad del Este, Paraguay - the Wild West of the "war on terror". Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela have been very critical toward Washington's regional geostrategic designs. So for the Bush administration a weak and corrupt Paraguayan government is the perfect Trojan horse.

Duarte is a certified FOB (Friend of Bush). He was personally received at the White House. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited Asuncion one year ago. Paraguayan Vice President Luis Castiglioni met his US counterpart Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld and crucially Roger Noriega, the sinister former assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs. John Keane, US ambassador to Paraguay, publicized a huge contribution to fight "drug trafficking, terrorism, money laundering and corruption". The Triple Border has always been the top issue on all meetings between these players, not to mention the ministerial meetings sponsored by Southcom (the US Southern Command).

The lethal cocktail of Cheney, Rumsfeld, Noriega, the Triple Border and all those thousands of "Ay-rabs" in Ciudad del Este could not but spell endless trouble. Argentine non-governmental organizations also identify the Triple Border as the Americans' No 1 geostrategic target. The master plan would be typical Rumsfeld: light, "rapid reaction" forces based in Paraguay intervening in neighboring countries and conducting low-intensity warfare against the - non-existent - Triple Border "terrorists". The Pentagon's agenda is the militarization of the so-called Western Hemisphere. In his South American trips the Rumsfeld mantra has been "dominion over ungoverned spaces". So Pentagon logic equally applies to the Triple Border and the Rio favelas run by drug mafias.

more...

[nashville_brook]

35. he's joining the MOONIES in a water stealing enterprise

"...Moon's land sits atop the Guarani Aquifer, the Earth's largest resource of fresh drinking water, and also happens to be an "enormously strategic point in both the narcotics and arms trades," according to Paraguay's drug czar from 1976-89."

[warrens]

36. This sounds like BS

If he was buying a huge ranch in South America, the MSM would be all over it.

[Heidi]

37. Locking.

October 13 dateline.

Per the Rules for Starting Threads in Latest Breaking News:
Do not post news that is more than 12 hours old.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x87249