[NYTr] Paraguay: Laboratory for Latin America's New Militarism

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Upside Down World via World War 4 Report - Oct, 2007
http://ww4report.com/node/4498

PARAGUAY: LABORATORY FOR LATIN AMERICA’S NEW MILITARISM

by Benjamin Dangl

Two soldiers in Paraguay stand in front of a camera. One of them holds
an automatic weapon. John Lennon’s "Imagine" plays in the background.
This Orwellian juxtaposition of war and peace is from a new video
posted online by US soldiers stationed in Paraguay. The video footage
and other military activity in this heart of the continent represent a
new style of militarism in Latin America.

Paraguay’s long-time dictator, General Alfredo Stroessner collaborated
with the region’s other dictators through Operation Condor, which used
kidnapping, torture and murder to squash dissent and political
opponents. Stroessner’s human rights record was so bad that even Ronald
Reagan distanced himself from the leader. Carrying on this infamous
legacy, Paraguay now illustrates three new characteristics of Latin
America’s right-wing militarism: joint exercises with the US military
in counterinsurgency training and monitoring of social organizations,
the use of private mercenaries for security, and the criminalization of
social protest through "anti-terrorism" tactics and legislation.

In May of 2005, the Paraguayan Senate voted to allow US troops to
operate in Paraguay with total immunity. Washington threatened to cut
off millions in aid to the country if Paraguay did not grant the US
troops entry. In July of 2005 hundreds of US soldiers arrived in the
country and Washington's funding for counterterrorism efforts in
Paraguay doubled. The US troops conducted various operations and joint
training exercises with Paraguayan forces, including the Medical
Readiness Training Exercises (MEDRETEs). Orlando Castillo, a military
policy expert at the human rights organization Servicio, Paz y Justicia
in Asunción, Paraguay, says the MEDRETEs were "observation operatives"
aimed at developing a "a type of map that identifies not just the
natural resources in the area, but also the social organizations and
leaders of different communities."

Castillo, in his cool Asunción office, with the standard Paraguayan
herbal tea, tereré in his hand, said these operations marked a shift in
US military strategy. "The kind of training that used to just happen at
the School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia, is now
decentralized," he explained. "The US military is now establishing new
mechanisms of cooperation and training with armed forces." Combined
efforts, such as MEDRETEs, are part of this agenda. "It is a way to
remain present, while maintaining a broad reach throughout the
Americas." Castillo said this new militarism is aimed at considering
internal populations as a potential enemies and preventing the coming
to power of insurgent, leftist groups.

Bruce Kleiner of the US Embassy in Paraguay stated that MEDRETEs
"provide humanitarian service to some of Paraguay's most disadvantaged
citizens." The video by Captain William Johnson posted on Google Video
has footage of various MEDRETE operations, the treatment and
questioning of local Paraguayans as well as events and ceremonies aimed
at strengthening ties between the military personnel of both countries.
Often, heavily armed men are seen walking past lines of local families
while they wait for medicine and questions. The video’s lighthearted
depiction of these joint military operations is in sharp contrast with
reports from local citizens.

A group of representatives from human rights organizations and
universities from all over the world, including the Madres de la Plaza
de Mayo in Argentina and a group from the University of Tolouse,
France, traveled to Paraguay in July 2006 as part of the Campaign for
the Demilitarization of the Americas (CADA) to observe and report on
the repression going on in the country linked to the presence of US
troops. Interviewed local citizens said they were not told what
medications they were given during the US MEDRETEs. Patients said they
were often given the same treatments regardless of their illness. In
some cases, the medicine produced hemorrhages and abortions. When the
medical treatment took place, patients reported that they were asked if
they belonged to any kind of labor or social organization.

While Orlando Castillo is adamant that the historic military links
between Paraguay and the US remain strong, the US troops that arrived
in 2005 have reportedly left the country. In December 2006, the
Paraguayan Senate and executive branch, responding to pressure from
neighboring countries, voted to end the troops’ immunity. Paraguay
would have been excluded from the lucrative regional trade bloc of
Mercosur if it continued to grant immunity to the US troops.

Privatizing Repression

Castillo sees private mercenaries, or paramilitaries, as another key
piece of the new militarism puzzle. In Paraguay, the strongest
paramilitary group is the Citizens Guard. "These paramilitary groups
are made of people from the community. They establish curfews, rules of
conduct and monitor the activity of the community. They also intervene
in family disputes and can kick people out of the community or off
land.. This all very similar to the paramilitary activities in
Colombia." Castillo said that while this activity is illegal, the
police and judges simply look the other way. Many of the paramilitaries
are connected to large agribusinesses and landowners and have been
linked to an increased repression of small farming families resisting
the expansion of the soy industry. The shadow army of the Citizens
Guard is as big as the state security forces: these paramilitary groups
have nearly 22,000 members, while the Paraguayan police force is only
9,000 strong and the military has 13,000 members.

Anti-terrorism rhetoric and legislature is being mixed into this deadly
cocktail. The Paraguayan Senate is scheduled to pass an anti-terrorism
law which will criminalize social protest and establish penalties of up
to 40 years in prison for people that participate in such activities. A
large march against the passage of the law took place in the country’s
capital on July 26th.

Marco Castillo, a Paraguayan journalist with a dark ponytail, shook as
head while contemplating this new landscape of repression. Dozens of
social organization leaders and dissidents have been disappeared and
tortured in recent years. "Impunity reigns," he said. "This is as bad
as it was during the worst years of the Stroessner dictatorship."

[Benjamin Dangl won a 2007 Project Censored Award for his coverage of
US military operations in Paraguay. He is the author of The Price of
Fire: Resource Wars and Social Movements in Bolivia (AK Press, 2007).]

This story first appeared Aug. 1, 2007 in Upside Down World
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/835/1/