PUERTO IGUAZU, Paraguay -- The United States quietly opened a new intelligence base in this Paraguayan town that sits on the border of Brazil and Bolivia. Although ostensibly its focus is on regional anti-drug trafficking measures, Latin American government officials say the base will have more to do with counterterrorism than drugs.

According to Latinamerica Press, these officials said they worry that the base, which falls under the purview of the Pentagon's Southern Command, will strengthen U.S. control in the region.

The base was hastily constructed and paid for entirely by the United States, with a state-of-the-art radar system, a heliport and accommodation for 100 agents. It was built without consultation with the Regional Intelligence Center, an intelligence sharing body for law enforcement agencies of Paraguay, Brazil and Bolivia with observers from Chile and Uruguay, Latinamerica Press reported.

According to Paraguayan Sen. Domingo Laino, the United States has alleged for more than a decade that this border region is a sanctuary for international terrorism, "though it has not provided a single fact to back this up."