""The reason for the base in Manta was to allow, basically, US surveillance planes to patrol those waters," said Evan Ellis, a Latin America Research Professor at the US Army War College Strategic Studies Institute. "So you could do a more effective job on interdiction of the drug boats that were going in the eastern Pacific. "Without that, the US was forced to shift to other locations [outside of Ecuador].""
""If passed, it would allow the US to occupy bases on Ecuador's Pacific coastline. For Ecuador, it would strengthen ties to the US and potentially improve efforts to fight local violence. For the Trump Administration, it would be a boon for its campaign against drug trafficking networks across the region, which has seen nearly two-dozen military strikes on purported drug vessels in South and Central American waters.""
A November 16 referendum will decide whether to repeal a nearly 20-year constitutional ban on foreign militaries in Ecuador. Polling by Cedatos indicates roughly two-thirds of voters support the change. Repeal would permit U.S. bases on Ecuador's Pacific coast, strengthening bilateral ties and aiding efforts to combat domestic violence tied to drug cartels and gangs. The U.S. would gain strategic positioning for interdiction of drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific, complementing recent regional maritime strikes. President Daniel Noboa hosted U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to tour former U.S. sites in Manta and Salinas; Galapagos was ruled out.
Read at www.dw.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]