Oh...THAT explains it

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Sorry, I couldn't find the original post about US moving troops into Paraguay. <br><br>This might give some indication of what's up, though.<br><br><br>By George Gedda<br>The Associated Press<br>The Washington Post<br>Washington D.C.<br>USA<br>Infosearch:<br>José Cadenas<br>Research Dept.<br>La Nueva Cuba<br>July 29, 2005<br><br><br>WASHINGTON -- Cuba and Venezuela are trying to install leftist governments throughout Latin America and are closest to achieving their objective in Bolivia, a Defense Department official said Tuesday.<br><br>Roger Pardo-Maurer, a deputy assistant secretary who specializes in Western Hemisphere issues, said Bolivia has become the main target of the two leftist Caribbean countries because revolutionary conditions exist there.<br><br><br>"There is no question" that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is "providing money and moral support" for opposition forces in Bolivia, who are led by a populist congressman, Evo Morales. While Chavez provides the resources for the Bolivian opposition, Cuban President Fidel Castro provides the direction and organization, Pardo-Maurer said.<br><br>"They are trying to steer this revolution toward a Marxist-socialist populist state," said the Pentagon official, speaking to a gathering at the conservative Hudson Institute.<br><br>Pardo-Maurer said Cuba and Venezuela have targeted many other countries in the hemisphere besides Bolivia.<br><br>"There are subversive projects going on everywhere else," and they seem to be primarily financed and organized by Venezuela, he said.<br><br>He offered no evidence for the assertions.<br><br>The Venezuelan government has denied sending financial support to groups in Bolivia or trying to interfere in the country's internal affairs.<br><br>In a telephone interview, Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez said he considered Pardo-Maurer's remarks a Bush administration scare tactic aimed at securing House votes for CAFTA, a six-nation Latin America free trade agreement. A vote is expected this week.<br><br>Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, in published opinion pieces, has warned that congressional rejection of CAFTA could radicalize the six and play into Venezuela's hands.<br><br>Alvarez dismissed the notion that Venezuela is trying to subvert democratic processes in Latin America.<br><br>"We have normal relationships with all the countries of Latin America," he said.<br> <br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.lanuevacuba.com/nuevacuba/notic-05-07-2913.htm">www.lanuevacuba.com/nueva...7-2913.htm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>

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<br> <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.narconews.com/">www.narconews.com/</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><br> ...... is the best source for south-o'-the-border news:<br><br><br>Rumsfeld Booed in Paraguay<br>By Al Giordano,<br>Posted on Wed Aug 17th, 2005 at 06:03:16 PM EST<br><br>Two days after a prominent U.S. Senator called for his resignation, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld headed south... first to Paraguay then to Perú, where he's not finding himself any more popular.<br><br>Neike press agency reports:<br><br> Dozens of demonstrators mobilized this Wednesday morning in front of the Heroes Cemetery and booed the U.S. Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, who is visiting the country.<br><br> The loud demonstrators shouted everything at the man who is considered the leading "hawk" in the U.S. administration of George Bush, and waved placards with slogans that said, "Criminal," "Assassin," and "Son of a Whore!"<br><br>More about Donald Rumsfeld's National Lampoon vacation at the jump...<br><br>Neike adds, interestingly:<br><br> Rumsfeld met this morning with (Paraguayan) Defense Minister Roberto González, but the themes of the meeting were not made known.<br><br>According to the Mexican government news agency, Notimex, Rumsfeld's mission was to isolate Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez:<br><br> The Paraguayan daily ABC reported that Rumsfeld said to (President Nicanor) Duarte "in diplomatic terms, the U.S. shared its perception that Chavez is a destabilizing factor for emerging democracies in South America."<br><br> It reported that Rumsfeld came to Paraguay with a concrete mission: to deliver the U.S. line against the aggresive policies of Chavez with intentions of domination of the region.<br><br>But, according to that same report, the Paraguayan president was not signing up for duty, at least not in public:<br><br> The Secretary of Defense interrogated Duarte - according to the report - about the position that the Paraguay government has with respect to the Cuba-Venezuela axis, and the South American president said that relations with both states are normal.<br><br> He alluded to the quantity of Paraguayan youths that study at Cuban universities and the trade agreements reached with Venezuela, especially in the purchase of crude oil and interchange of agricultural products.<br><br>Shadowing over the proceedings was the 800 pound gorilla of U.S. military presence in Paraguay, the immunity granted to U.S. troops there, and reports of a U.S. military base, as we reported in our June 9 coverage of the unrest in Bolivia.<br><br>Notimex noted:<br><br> An official in the Duarte administration said in a whisper, "the Secretary of Defense clarified that there is no interest by his government in installing a military base in Paraguayan territory."<br><br>Indeed, Paraguayan President Duarte was spinning damage control prior to Rumsfeld's arrival. On Monday he told reporters:<br><br> "For as long as I am president there won't by any military base by any world power nor will we be a headquarters for the policing tasks of anyone."<br><br>After his vacation in Paraguay, where Rumsfeld got to hear chants of “murder! Murderer!â€