- Ecuador leader proposes lifting ban on foreign military bases
- Proposals comes 15 years after the last US troops left Manta base
- Noboa says Ecuador needs foreign military to combat crime gangs
Ecuador leader proposes lifting ban on foreign military bases
Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa has proposed amending the constitution to allow foreign military bases in the country, 15 years after the last US troops left the Manta base on Ecuador’s Pacific coast. The base, once a hub for US anti-drug operations, was returned to Ecuador’s military in 2008.
Noboa, 36, argues that Ecuador needs foreign military assistance to combat powerful transnational crime gangs using the country as a key drug trafficking route between South America, Europe, and the US. Despite declaring war on these gangs in January, violence continues to plague cities like Manta, Durán, and Guayaquil.
“They argued that Ecuador would regain its sovereignty, but instead handed it over to the drug-traffickers.”
Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa
In a video posted on X from the Manta base, Noboa criticised the 2008 decision by then-President Rafael Correa, which not only ended the US lease on the base but also banned any foreign military presence in Ecuador’s constitution. Noboa contends, “They argued that Ecuador would regain its sovereignty, but instead handed it over to the drug-traffickers.”
He emphasised the need for both national and international cooperation in the fight against transnational crime.