Paraguay: Mariscal Estigarribia Airport is wide enough for B-52 bombers

According to the US government:

United States Has No Plans for Military Base in Paraguay

The June 13, 2005, Clarin article claimed that American “B-52 airplanes” could be used at Mariscal Estigarribia. In reality, the runways are too narrow for them. B-52s typically need a runway width of 150 feet (46 meters) to land and re-engined models will require a runway width of 175 feet (53 meters), according to a June 2004 report (page 28) of the U.S. Defense Science Board Task Force on B-52 Re-Engining. However, the runways at Mariscal Estigarribia are only 131 feet (40 meters) wide.

However if you scale it on Google Earth. It is .04 miles (60 meters) wide and 2.17 miles (3500 meters) long.

.04 x 5280= 211 feet which is 64.25 meters. So I could be off a little bit. It was probably built at 60 meters wide (60 Meters = 196.8503937007874 Feet), which is fine for a B-52

THE AIRSTRIP LOOKS PLENTY WIDE ON THIS VIDEO



Information Clearing House

Press Release - Council On Hemispheric Affairs

07/22/05 - - This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associates Mary Donohue and Melissa Nepomiachi.

• On June 1, 2005 the Paraguayan National Congress entered into an agreement with Washington that allows U.S. troops to enter into Paraguay for an 18-month period.

• The troops will help train Paraguayan officials to deal with narcotrafficking, terrorism, government corruption and domestic health issues.

• The agreement grants the U.S. troops legal immunity from possible offenses committed during their stay.

• Washington has long sought similar immunity for its troops in the Southern Cone, but Argentina and Brazil have firmly restricted granting such judicial liberty to U.S. troops.

• Bolivian officials and its press are also speaking out against the agreement, fearing the U.S. presence as a means to control the petroleum and natural gas sources in their country.

• Though Asunción and Washington claim that the U.S. has no intentions of establishing a permanent base in Paraguay, history shows a strange resemblance between the current situation in Paraguay and the development of the Manta base in Ecuador from a “temporary” facility into a major base.

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