Why Paraguay’s Deal With The U.S. Military Matters

The Weekly Post | 22.12.25

Photo: @SecRubio/X.

TOP STORY

SOFA signed

Paraguay and the United States have signed a “historic” Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that paves the way for greater participation of US soldiers in training, exercises, humanitarian assistance, and potentially joint military operations in Paraguay.

The deal – signed on December 15 in Washington D.C. by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez Lezcano – gives visiting US military personnel and contractors immunity akin to diplomatic staff from prosecution for crimes committed on Paraguayan soil.

The framework also exempts them from taxes and customs duties on imported military equipment.

Rubio said the deal “marked a new era in the U.S.-Paraguay relationship” and “opens new doors for our collective efforts to advance security and stability in our hemisphere.”

“This instrument, which we are going to submit to Congress, is further proof of the strategic alliance between the US and Paraguay,” said Ramírez Lezcano.

Defense Minister Óscar González subsequently told reporters that Paraguayan sovereignty would be “fully safeguarded.”

In a radio interview, US Charge d’Affaires in Paraguay Robert Alter said the SOFA would strengthen US-Paraguay cooperation against cyberattacks, narcotrafficking, and transnational terrorism.

He also denied suggestions that the SOFA heralds a long-term deployment of foreign troops to the landlocked South American nation, which is a close US ally.

“The agreement doesn’t envision or talk of any kind of base or permanent presence of US military personnel in Paraguay,” Alter told Universo 970 AM. “What the deal does is facilitate existing collaboration.”

Alter indicated the full text of the agreement will be made public once Paraguay’s congress – which adjourned for its three-month summer recess last week – reviews the deal, although ABC Color has published what looks like a transcript.

Brazil’s president Lula is reportedly concerned that US soldiers could be deployed to fight drug cartels along the Paraguay-Brazil border – a prospect denied by Paraguayan authorities – and angered that the administration of Paraguay’s president, Santiago Peña, didn’t notify him first.

THE POST TAKE:

Though it sounds dramatic, the SOFA probably won’t give US jarheads a free pass to start rolling around Mariano Roque Alonso and blasting motochorros right away.

Visiting military personnel will still be subject to US laws, while the US Congress scrutinises overseas deployments.

The deal – said to have been under discussion for several years – partly reflects Washington’s desire to reward the Peña administration for its pro-US foreign policy with a public show of confidence.

The SOFA is envisioned as streamlining increased military cooperation through an overarching framework, rather than bespoke deals having to be hashed out for each deployment.

Beyond the standard detachment of Marine Security Guards at the embassy compound in Asunción, there is no currently no public permanent presence of US troops in Paraguay. Recent US military missions include training special forces – including one recent six-month deployment – and providing medical and dental care.

Direct threats to US national security from Paraguay and its neighbourhood are limited. Reported activity by Hezbollah in the triple-border area is probably limited to money-laundering. While criminal organizations like the PCC have expanded into Paraguay and been sanctioned by the US, they mainly traffic drugs back into Brazil and on to Africa and Europe.

Three Major Risks Facing Paraguay

Yet SOFAs typically lead to a significant presence of US boots on the ground: even when citizens in the host nation are hostile to the idea.

The US currently maintains Status of Forces Agreements with roughly 50 countries, including South Korea, Japan, and NATO members such as Germany, Italy, and the UK. Around half host major US military bases – including airfields, ports, and logistics sites – while many others see rotational deployments of US troops.

Ecuador signed a SOFA with the US in 2023. This November, its voters rejected a referendum that would have allowed permanent US bases in the country – a move the government said was necessary to fight narcotraffickers. But last week, the Trump administration announced a “short-term” deployment of Air Force personnel to Ecuador, operating out of a former US airbase.

And as the Trump administration piles military pressure on Venezuela – a minor player in the global drug trade – and US competition with China across the hemisphere heats up, questions remain over what lies behind the SOFA and where it could ultimately lead.

You’re reading The Weekly Post, an essential Monday briefing on Paraguay.

Also in this week’s issue:
Trump writes Peña · Cartes on manoeuvres · New polling data · S&P gives Paraguay investment grade · Mercosur deal in doubt · Integration Bridge to Brazil inaugurated, separately · Arms-trafficking raid · Paraguay’s prisons go Bukele

Want to see the rest? Claim your free trial:

POLITICS

Peña pals

• Santiago Peña appears to have nominated Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. In a signed letter dated November 21 – which the Post has confirmed is genuine – the US president thanks his Paraguayan counterpart for the nomination and congratulates his “great work to rebuild the economy of Paraguay” and taking “a strong stance in support of your priciples” [sic]. The United States, he adds, “is behind you 100 percent … because of leaders like you, I believe that Paraguay will be truly great again!” Venezuelan opposition María Corina Machado was awarded the prize in October but dedicated it to Trump, who considers himself a peacemaker for supposedly ending eight wars.