Update on the bu$h land purchase in Paraguay (TPM):

[mod mom]

truthista's Blog
About that Bush Family Ranch in Paraguay...
By truthista | bio

?1 of 1 people recommend this blog entry.

A government office forbidden by law from disseminating information domestically was the mouthpiece of choice for the administration to deny rumors that the Bush family purchased thousands of acres in a remote portion of northern Paraguay.

According to CNN, the State Department's USINFO Counter-Disinformation/Misinformation Team, led by Todd Leventhal, "helps U.S. embassies identify and rebut other nations' disinformation, most often fabrications about the United States planted in foreign newspapers or television shows and, these days, on the Internet."

The State Department's response is posted on the USINFO website in its "media archives." Curiously, the official denial (below) was not issued separately but was appended to an earlier statement responding to equally persistent rumors of a U.S. military base in Paraguay.

Alleged Bush ranch in Paraguay

In October 2006, newspapers in Paraguay, the Cuban news service Prensa Latina and others circulated allegations falsely claiming, variously, that:

*    Former President George H.W. Bush owns 70,000 hectares (173,000 acres) in the Chaco region of Paraguay, or

*    Current President George W. Bush owns 40,000 hectares (98,842 acres) in the same region, or

*    Timothy Towell, former U.S. ambassador to Paraguay from 1988 to 1991, administers the 70,000 hectare ranch on behalf of former President Bush.

These supposed land acquisitions were often claimed to be associated with alleged U.S. designs on the Guarani aquifer or the Mariscal Estigarribia air base.

There is no truth to any of these allegations:

*    The White House has stated that the rumors about President Bush are not true.

*    The office of former President George H.W. Bush has confirmed that the allegations about former President Bush are not true.

*    Ambassador Towell has confirmed that he does not administer any land in Paraguay on behalf of either former President George H.W. Bush or current President George W. Bush.

(excerpt from "United States Has No Plans for Military Base in Paraguay," U.S. State Dept.)

-snip
http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/truthista/2007/jan/10/about_that_bush_family_ranch_in_paraguay


IF YOU'VE BEEN FOLLOWING THE BUSH LAND PURCHASE (NEXT TO REV MOON'S COMPOUND) IN PARAGUAY, I RECOMMEND YOU READ THIS ENTIRE PIECE.

[Dinger]

1. Hmmmm, Methinks * Is A Fixin' To Run!

And SOON!

[patrice]

2. Mind your ps and qs and

maybe you'll get invited to live there :sarcasm: while the rest of us fight for our lives in a country/world that they mortally wounded.

[R_M]

3. Why would such "patriots" want to buy so much land in a foreign...

country, you know, one of those places where "all them imigants" come from?

Maybe they're preparing to run to escape when the "shit hits the fan"? Or maybe they are starting the next Jonestown, but this time it will be for all the "Christian" Fundies!

[SharonAnn]

4. So, let's see. Would that mean that Jenna and Barbara bought it? Or Marvin and Neil?

Or ?????

The possibilities are endless on this.

They didn't BUY the land, they only contracted for a 199 year lease?

They didn't BUY the land, they only bought the mineral and water rights?

etc.

[mod mom]

6. According to Wonkette, it was Jenna:

? ? ? ? ?

We Hate To Bring Up the Nazis, But They Fled To South America, Too

?Our paranoid friends over at Bring It On have put together a story that hasn’t exactly made Washington Whispers. It’s real short and real simple:
? The Cuban news service reports that George W. Bush has purchased 98,840 acres in Paraguay, near the Bolivian/Brazilian border.
? Jenna Bush paid a secret diplomatic visit to Paraguayan President Nicanor Duarte and U.S. Ambassador James Cason. There were no press conferences, no public sightings and no official confirmation of her 10-day trip which apparently ended this week.
? The Paraguayan Senate voted last summer to “grant U.S. troops immunity from national and International Criminal Court (ICC) jurisdiction.”
? Immediately afterwards, 500 heavily armed U.S. troops arrived with various planes, choppers and land vehicles at Mariscal Estigarribia air base, which happens to be at the northern tip of Paraguay near the Bolivian/Brazilian border. More have reportedly arrived since then.

What the hell, after the jump. Plus a BREAKING UPDATE involving, of course, The Moonies!

Now, Prensa Latina is a Cuban-government operation that is not exactly friendly toward Washington, what with Washington trying to kill Castro for 50 years and all.

-snip
http://wonkette.com/politics/george-w.-bush/we-hate-to-bring-up-the-nazis-but-they-fled-to-south-america-too-208549.php

[Sal Minella]

7. Map of areas affected most/least by climate change in 2070

See where the green spot in South America is? Guess what......

[mod mom]

9. Actually look at this map where Paraguay is located:

[schrodingers_cat]

23. I was just reading a 2002 issue of Vanity Fair

God bless my doctor's office, for having 5 year old magazines in the waiting room....
anyway, the article, published about a year after 9/11, spoke of the region near Iguassu Falls as being a terrorist training mecca for whatever international nutbag that wanted to wander through and learn a thing or two about bad things could go, and learn bad things. This included folks from the middle east. I'm off to find a link, it may add an interesting layer to this story........


edit - I could not find a link to this story - it was the December 2002 issue with Nicole Kidman.......anybody? It really piqued my interest in regard to this Bush family story...

[mod mom]

26. What is the Military Doing in Paraguay?

What is the U.S. Military Doing in Paraguay?

By Benjamin Dangl

8/01/05





The U.S. military is conducting secretive operations in Paraguay and reportedly building a new base there. Human rights groups and military analysts in the region believe trouble is brewing. However, the U.S. embassy in Paraguay denies the base exists and describes the military activity as routine. 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. (1)

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.

On May 26, 2005 the Paraguayan senate approved the entrance of the troops, granting them total immunity, free from Paraguayan and International Criminal Court jurisdiction. The legislature is due to expire in December 2006, but is automatically extendable. Since December 2004, the U.S. has been pressuring Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela and Paraguay into signing a deal which would grant immunity to U.S. military. The Bush administration threatened to deny the countries up to $24.5 million in economic and military aid if they refused to sign the deal. Paraguay was the only country to accept the offer. (2)

US Embassy Denies Base Claims, Rumsfeld Looks Forward to Military Cooperation

-snip

The Pentagon used this same rhetoric when describing its actions in Manta, Ecuador, now the home of an $80 million U.S. military base. First they said the facility was an archaic “dirt strip” which would be used for weather monitoring and would not permanently house U.S. personnel. Days later, the Pentagon stated that Manta was to serve as a major military base tasked with a variety of security-related missions. Human rights groups have linked the U.S. base in Manta to the 2002 coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. (4)



-snip

http://upsidedownworld.org/US-in-Paraguay.htm


PARAGUAY REVERSES IMMUNITY ON OCT 2ND, 2005 saying "that the international Convention of Vienna only protects diplomats, not soldiers, from prosecution."


In July 2005, 400 U.S. military personnel moved into Paraguay. The move followed the government’s agreement to grant immunity to U.S. troops from prosecution for crimes committed on its soil by Paraguayan courts or by the International Criminal Court.

On Oct. 2, Paraguay announced the withdrawal of that immunity and its intention not to renew the troop agreement. Paraguay’s partners in Mercosur, the regional trade alliance, had complained about the arrangement, saying that the international Convention of Vienna only protects diplomats, not soldiers, from prosecution.

Analysts suggest that U.S. interest in the region’s oil, gas and water resources and its political concerns about Bolivia and Mercosur may have motivated the Bush administration’s attempt to establish a permanent U.S. military base in Paraguay. Such plans are now in doubt.


Paraguay to stop giving US troops immunity
Washington Post, United States - 7 hours ago ASUNCION, Paraguay (Reuters) - Paraguay will stop granting US troops immunity from prosecution next year in an about-face aimed at coordinating policies with

http://globalgeopolitics.net/wordpress/?m=20061002

[SpiralHawk]

27. "There's nothing to see here. Move along." - Commander AWOL

"I mean, the way you folks talk you would think
that I belonged to some kind of occult cabal." - Commander AWOL

[femmedem]

10. That is one frightening map.

Where did you find it?

[cui bono]

15. This pic has a direct link so you can right click on it to find its website...

then I deleted the end part of the url to find the main page:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/climateexperiment/

[femmedem]

19. Thank you. An interesting site. n/t

[Sal Minella]

22. Somebody posted it on D.U. & I just bookmarked it....

[ClayZ]

16. Green Green, It's green they say......

on the far side of the hill
Green Green, he's goin' away
To where the map is greener still!

[Mojorabbit]

17. I've never seen that map! yikes n/t

[seabeyond]

20. looks like paraguay just misses the green spot and is in argentina n/t

[mod mom]

21. I agree, as well as Uraguay-still the propertys rests on the largest aquifer.

[napi21]

5. Maybe there's a connection to "clean water"!

After all, they HAVE poluted, or allowed to be poluted, almost every body of water in the US. Something really stinks about this whole deal. I wonder if we'll EVER find out what?

[robinlynne]

12. I was in Brasil recently, and they suppose it is about water.

[napi21]

18. Well I didn't have the chance to go to Brazil, butI KONW there has to

be some monetary advantage to the Shrubies here. There's not a lot of $$ there, soit almost has to be about the water!

[scarletwoman]

8. Okay, I'm off to read the TPM link. Here's a k & r.... (nt)

[Canuckistanian]

11. You can't doubt an American Counter-Disinformation / Misinformation Team, right?

This must be legit.

[tom_paine]

24. In BushSpeak, that mean they are responsible for disinformation/misinformation

Or is there a seperate Bushevik HQ for misinformation and one for disinformation?

[Canuckistanian]

25. With a name as convoluted as that

They might as well be a front group for the insurance industry.

This is bizarre even for a bureaucracy.

[glitch]

13. Of course George Sr and George Jr didn't buy it.

Their family corporation, BFEE, Inc. bought it.

[Vidar]

14. I hope Hugo will lend Evo a couple of armies to greet their arrival.