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U.S. providing $1.4 million in anti-terror equipment to Paraguay
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Ambassador Liliana Ayalde (Official Photo)
At an event that took place today at Paraguay’s army headquarters outside the capital city of Asunción, the U.S. government presented the Paraguayan government with $1.39 million worth of military equipment. The materiel is intended for the formation of an Anti-Terrorist Assault Battalion of the Armed Forces.
Liliana Ayalde, U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay, said “it is up to the Paraguayan government to decide how to use the equipment in military operations.”
"We are doing a lot with regard to cooperation with transparency," said Ayalde in a news conference at the end of the ceremony. “The equipment is for countering terrorism, or any other threat to public safety. The battalion already has the equipment and training and is ready for different types of tasks. This is the continuance of support that began a couple of years ago.”
According to El Nuevo Herald, there are no active terrorist groups in Paraguay but there is a rebel band called Paraguay People's Army (PPA), which operates in the northern departments of San Pedro and Concepción, the poorest areas in the country. The group conducts kidnappings for ransom of landowners.
The presentation of military equipment by the U.S. comes at a delicate time in the region. Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo recently declined to allow 500 U.S. soldiers to enter the country for a humanitarian exercise, claiming the size of the contingent was “too much.”
Several other countries in the hemisphere—most notably Venezuela, Ecuador, and Brazil—have been making large purchases of military equipment from countries across the globe, causing concern among some observers that Latin America is entering an arms race.
This particular set of equipment is minimal, relatively speaking. Ayalde said the package included “high-tech equipment for communications, weapons and night vision devices.”
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