Ecuadorian officials want U.S. troops out; colonel warns of damage to drug

Graffiti on a building outside Forward Operation Location Manta in Ecuador reads “No more war bases — Yankees out of Manta.” The U.S. military faces an uncertain future in Ecuador.


Ecuadorian officials want U.S. troops out; colonel warns of damage to drug
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Monday, April 28, 2008

MANTA, Ecuador — Pentagon planners have invested more than $70 million over the last nine years at Forward Operating Location Manta and call the post a key hub for counternarcotics and humanitarian work in the region.

Ecuadorian lawmakers want them out.

President Rafael Correa, as part of his campaign promises two years ago, has pledged to force U.S. troops off the coastal base when the two countries’ operating agreement expires next year.

His allies have accused the U.S. of using the installation to aid Colombian military attacks on FARC camps inside Ecuador last month, a charge U.S. officials deny. Lawmakers rewriting the constitution recently inserted language barring foreign military bases within the country.

Lt. Col. Robert Leonard, head of the operational squadron at FOL Manta, said he has spent much of the last few months trying to convince Ecuadorian leaders and national media that the U.S. mission in Manta is a peaceful one and that leaving could hurt the Ecuadorian fight on drugs.


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