MADRID, 17 (EUROPA PRESSE)
The American authorities announced on Wednesday the arrival of their military at the Manta base, in eastern Ecuador, where their troops were already deployed until 2009, for a temporary joint operation with Ecuadorian forces against “narcoterrorism” as part of the latest defense agreements.
The United States Embassy in Ecuador confirmed the arrival of the military contingent at the Manta Air Base, located on the Pacific coast, a little more than a month after the second visit of the American Secretary of Security, Kristi Noem, during which these collaboration agreements were concluded.
“The operation will improve the capacity of Ecuadorian military forces to fight against narcoterrorists,” the embassy said on its account on the social network.
This joint operation “aims to protect the United States and Ecuador against the threats we share,” added the embassy.
The Ecuadorian President, Daniel Noboa, also spoke in this direction, for whom “this operation will make it possible to identify and dismantle drug trafficking routes”, in addition to “subduing those who believed they could take over the country”.
Two days before, another plane loaded with military equipment arrived at the Manta air base, where the United States had already operated for a decade, until in 2009 the government of Rafael Correa decided not to extend the agreements with Washington.
Manta is the closest port city to the Galapagos archipelago, its geographical location seems crucial for the control of drug trafficking, but also human trafficking, and even illegal fishing.
Noboa defended during the referendum campaign the possibility that it could once again serve as a base of operations for the United States, although he avoided referring to the warlike nature of the mission, even if 60 percent of those who went to the polls voted against the return of foreign military bases to the country.
THE UNITED STATES STRENGTENS ITS MILITARY PRESENCE IN THE REGION
This operation also comes at a time of maximum tension on the Venezuelan coasts of the Caribbean, with an unprecedented military deployment in the area which has already bombed dozens of alleged drug boats since September, also in the Pacific, killing almost a hundred people.
In recent days, Washington has strengthened its military presence in the region with various agreements with other actors, such as Paraguay and Peru, with whose governments it has concluded agreements similar to that with Ecuador.
A few days ago, the Peruvian Congress approved the entry of dozens of American military personnel equipped with war equipment to participate in joint operations and exercises with Peruvian forces during the year 2026.
In the case of Paraguay, the objective of this cooperation is the fight against groups that operate in the region as “terrorist organizations”, although the agreement also envisages collaboration in the training and development of Paraguayan forces, humanitarian assistance and response to possible disasters.
“The most serious problem we face in our hemisphere are these transnational terrorist organizations which, in many cases, are not terrorists for ideological reasons, but rather have a financial and economic basis,” maintained Secretary of State Marco Rubio during the signing of the agreement.
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