Ecuadorians reject return of US bases
Voters in Ecuador have rejected a proposal to bring US military bases back to the country, in a national referendum held on Sunday.
With around 95% of ballots counted, the official tally shows that 60.58% voted against President Daniel Noboa’s initiative to allow foreign troops to operate in Ecuador as part of efforts to fight organized crime and drug trafficking.
Noboa said he accepts the results. “We consulted with the Ecuadorians, and they have spoken. We fulfilled our promise to ask them directly. We respect the will of the Ecuadorian people,” he wrote on X.
US troops were stationed at an airbase in the port city of Manta until 2009, when then-President Rafael Correa refused to renew the lease and banned foreign bases in Ecuador.
Noboa offered US President Donald Trump the opportunity to station troops in the country, at different times pitching Manta, the city of Salinas, and one of the islands of the Galapagos Archipelago as possible locations. US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem met with Noboa in July as she toured Ecuador’s military sites.
The vote took place during the US military buildup in the Caribbean, where Trump ordered strikes on alleged cartel vessels and accused the leftist presidents of Venezuela and Colombia of aiding “narcoterrorists.”
At the same time, Trump has sought to strengthen ties with conservative leaders in the region, including Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who offered to house migrants deported from the US in Salvadoran prisons.
