Mariscal Estigarribia () is a town in the Boquerón Department, Paraguay.

Strategic importance

Mariscal Estigarribia is home to Dr. Luis Maria Argaña International Airport (IATA code: ESG), which some media reports claim is a US military base set up to provide access to the strategic

Triple Frontera The Triple Frontier ( es, Triple Frontera, pt, Tríplice Fronteira) is a tri-border area along the junction of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, where the Iguazú and Paraná rivers converge. Near the confluence are the cities of Puerto Igua ...

region. 400 US troops arrived in Paraguay in July 2005, shortly after the Paraguayan Senate granted US troops diplomatic immunity. Hundreds of US military personnel are rotated though Paraguay each year, though the military has stated that the total number in the country will not exceed 10–20 at any time. The '' Clarín'' newspaper reports that Mariscal Estigarribia would be a strategic location for a military base because of its proximity to the ''

'' between Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina; the

Guarani aquifer The Guarani Aquifer, located beneath the surface of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, is the second largest known aquifer system in the world and is an important source of fresh water. Named after the Guarani people, it covers , with a v ...

; and Bolivia (less than 200 km at a time when "Washington's magnifying glass goes on the '' Altiplano'' and points toward Venezuelan

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Republ ...

—the regional demon according to Bush's administration—as the instigator of the instability in the region".)US Marines put a foot in Paraguay
El Clarín, 9 September 2005 The US and Paraguayan governments deny that the US military is establishing a base at Mariscal Estigarribia. The US government said "...limited, short-term deployments of U.S. military personnel are scheduled to take place for a series of joint exercises with the Paraguayan military between July 2005 and December 2006. Most personnel deployed will not remain in Paraguay for more than 45 days." A Brazilian weekly news magazine, ''CartaCapital'', published an investigative article on 25 April 2008, that dismisses what it calls a

conspiracy theory A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

about the base.

Climate

References

External links

Mariscal Estigarribia airbase at Helis.com
– includes Google Maps
Dr Luís María Argaña International Airport
{{Authority control Populated places in the Boquerón Department Populated places established in 1944 1944 establishments in Paraguay