The U.S. military is sending a contingent of Air Force personnel to Ecuador in support of “anti-drug trafficking” operations.
The U.S. embassy in Quito announced the deployment in a statement on X on Dec. 17, saying that the American forces will operate out of the military base at Manta, with the Ecuadorian Air Force.
The deployment comes a month after Ecuadorian voters rejected a proposal to lift the country’s ban on foreign military bases by a roughly 2-1 margin. That proposal would have allowed the United States to fully return to the base at Manta, which it vacated in 2009 after a decade of operations.
Agence France-Presse first reported on the news. In a statement to Task & Purpose, a spokesperson for U.S. Southern Command said that the “short-term mission will be conducted within the framework of existing bilateral agreements and in accordance with Ecuadorian law.”
SOUTHCOM declined to share how many troops were deploying, citing “operational security concerns.” According to the statement, the mission involves strengthening intelligence collection and counter-narcotics capabilities, but SOUTHCOM also did not say what units the troops will be drawn from or how long the short-term mission will last. The base, located in the city’s Eloy Alfaro International Airport, is along the Pacific coast.
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, an ally of the Trump administration, said on social media that the American deployment will help “identify and dismantle drug trafficking routes,” as he steps up a campaign against drug cartels. Dawn reports, citing Ecuador’s defense ministry, that U.S. Air Force planes have already arrived in the country.
Although the U.S. left the base in Manta in 2009, U.S. troops do work with Ecuadorian forces as part of ongoing bilateral security agreements, often in a training or advisory role. Earlier this month U.S. forces supported an operation by the Ecuadorian Army that seized 1.4 tons of cocaine. Noboa had pushed for the lifting of the ban on foreign bases, and toured Manta with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in November prior to the referendum.
Posted by John3262005
1 Comment
Given that earlier this month, the US supported Ecuadorian troops in seizing drugs, I suppose this isn’t a bad thing
However, I hope this is a short term then, given the Trump administration’s tendency to stretch that short term into a long term thing
The Ecuadorian voters rejected a proposal to lift the country’s ban on foreign military bases by a roughly 2-1 margin. That proposal would have allowed the United States to fully return to the base at Manta, which it vacated in 2009 after a decade of operations.
I suppose we will see what happens in the end and whether this also connects to Venezuela.