When I began the blogs on Paraguay, I mentioned that aside from Nazi fugitives and Chinese Triads, there were all sorts of disreputable characters living in that country. There were several known terrorists from the Balkans living in Paraguay, not even attempting to hide their identity. There were also, Arab terrorists in the hinterlands, outside of Asuncion, as I was to find out later.
During my gathering of information on the Chinese Triad, I began to hear about strange settlements or "camps" that were heavily guarded, large estancias (ranches) that were occupied by "turcos." To most Paraguayans and indeed, to most South Americans, anyone of middle eastern background was simply a turco (Turk), just as any Asian was normally a chino! Perhaps today with more exposure, and constant news coverage of troubles in the middle east, the term arabe is more widely used, but back in the day, it was turco. Many of my Paraguayan informants, especially those from the countryside, often confused the chinos with turcos when it came to information about illegal activities of foreign groups. The Great Circle Gang had processing labs and other secret sites outside of Asuncion, and often these locations were near other secret sites that belonged to Arab groups.
The difference appeared to be that the Triad's secret labs, although guarded by armed men, were places where activity took place indoors, inside large sheds and buildings. The Arab camps or sites were military type training area! Men were spotted practicing weapons firing, using explosives, and other military training. Additionally, these Arab camps had buildings that were used as barracks, either newly constructed or old ranch workers sleep areas.
The largest concentration of newly arrived Arab population in Paraguay was located in the tri-border area (near the border of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay) in a town called Ciudad del Este (the East City) where large mosques were constructed and men and women in Muslim garb were seen moving about the city. The camps, however, were scattered about all over the countryside, although the majority seemed to be in the eastern part.
I kept receiving unconfirmed reports of strange activities of turcos in the hinterlands. Then, amazingly, there was a newspaper article about a large estancia (ranch) that was purchased by a Libyan group headed by a relative of Kaddafi. The article went on to say that the secluded property was going to be used as a religious retreat! This was too much, so I started reporting on whatever information that came my way about the activities of Arab groups in Paraguay.
Shortly after the appearance of the newspaper article in the Asuncion paper about the Arab "religious retreat," the U.S. Embassy received two visa applicants that sent off alarm bells. Two men showed up bearing passports from a small South Pacific island nation of Tonga. They claimed to be Tongans and they did, somewhat resemble Fijians or Tongans with their dark complexions and curly black hair. They said that they were Tongan businessmen, going to the U.S. to conduct business. They were even appropriately dressed in bright colored flower print shirts! However, they spoke English with an Arabic accent, and they looked more like they were from the Middle East rather than the South Pacific! When asked to say a few words in Tongan, neither could utter a sound! They were no doubt sent to the U.S. Embassy to test the grounds, so-to-speak. Many of our posts have a reputation for being "easy" for getting a visa, so I guess they wanted to find out!
That incident was duly reported and, at least the U.S. Embassy in Paraguay became aware of the fact that there were Arab terrorist groups in that country, up to no good and trying to get to the U.S. As more information came to us, it became apparent that the Arab groups were planning to infiltrate into the U.S. by way of Mexico, entering illegally with other Latin illegal border crossers. There were some in Washington who were no doubt very skeptical about the information and the reports were generally "deep sixed," disappeared into some black hole! This was back in 1987-88, some 26 years ago!
Back in 2008 or 2009 our embassy in Paraguay started reporting that they had come across information that Hezbollah, Al Qaida, and several other Arab terrorist groups had established training sites and other "businesses" in various locations in Paraguay, most notably in the eastern part, in the tri-border area. There were some alarm bells and some congressmen insisted that we do something about it. Of course, nothing was done. In the meantime, the Arab newspaper Al Jazeera ran a long piece, more of an editorial, mocking the U.S. claims that Arab terrorist organizations existed in Paraguay. The Al Jazeera reporter claimed to have interviewed the imam at the mosque in Ciudad del Este and said that the Muslim population in Paraguay was a peaceful, law abiding group. Supposedly, under pressure from the U.S. government, the Paraguayan Special Forces conducted numerous operations and raids into Arab settlements and found nothing to indicate that terrorist activities were taking place. First of all, I would question the competency of the so-called Paraguayan Special Forces, just because they are called "special" doesn't mean anything! Secondly, I doubt if any such operations actually took place. They are expensive and time consuming to plan and conduct, and the Paraguayan military has neither the means nor the will to conduct such operations, especially if the Arabs are paying "rent."
The Paraguayan government, as it was in the past, is a corrupt entity! The Paraguayan military, which is, of course, controlled by the government, is corrupt as well. It is a known fact the current and all of the past Paraguayan presidents have been in bed with the drug cartels. Despite their seeming cooperation with the U.S. (they have to put on a show to continue to receive our millions!), they neither like nor really cooperate with U.S.! The average Paraguayan may not really care one way or another, and most would give anything to get hold of that prized U.S. visa so they could come to America. But the government, and the rich and powerful are a different story. The rich and the influential all have U.S. visas. They regularly come to Miami to do their shopping or send their children to schools in America. But that doesn't necessarily translate to being pro-American.
So, I have no doubt in my mind that the Arab terrorist groups are flourishing in Paraguay. Why shouldn't they? They essentially receive government protection, as long as they can pay the right people! Paraguay is a small, landlocked country that is only a little bigger in size than the state of Arizona, with about the same size population. It is a poor country that has survived for generations on contraband and stolen goods economy. It has never been able to produce any kind of a sustaining industry. Small wonder then that the country depends on not just illegal goods, but illegal people, criminals, fugitives, and Arab terrorists!
No comments:
Post a Comment