chozo wrote:where is the MERCOSUR connection?
That was my question, too. I was surprised to see that Venezuela had joined this past summer. It looked like a pro-American organization until then, but according to this from wikipedia:
The organization could also potentially pre-empt the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), however, over half of the current Mercosur member countries rejected the FTAA proposal at the IV Cumbre de las Américas (IV Summit of the Americas) in Argentina in 2005.
it looks like the goal is to counterbalance US economic dominance in the region, not join forces with it. Mexico is joining, and Calderon is owned by Wall Street and the RNC, so I need to read more about what MERCOSUR is supposed to be all about.
chozo wrote:On May 5, however, the government of Paraguay took the bait. It signed an agreement authorizing an 18-month stay, automatically extended, for US soldiers and civilian employees. The previous limit had been set at six months. On May 26, in a secret session, Paraguay’s Congress passed legislation protecting US soldiers from prosecution for criminal activity, both within Paraguay and by the International Criminal Court.
Very interesting. My first thought also was that the property was possibly a safe haven for Bush from war crime prosecution