Ecuadorians voted in a referendum on Sunday and rejected measures that would have allowed the US to establish military bases in Ecuador, a blow to the Pentagon’s plans to increase its military presence in the region.
About 60% of Ecuadorians rejected the return of foreign military bases to the country. Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, who has aligned himself with the Trump administration, said before the vote that a US military presence was needed to help combat drug trafficking and violent crime, but he said he accepted the results of the referendum.
“These are the results. We consulted the Ecuadorians, and they have spoken. We have fulfilled what we promised: asking them directly. We respect the will of the Ecuadorian people. Our commitment does not change; it strengthens. We will continue to fight tirelessly for the country that you deserve, with the tools that we have,” Noboa wrote on X on Monday.
Ecuador is a major transit hub for cocaine, and Noboa, whose family business has previously been implicated in drug trafficking, has said that 70% of the global supply of cocaine flows through his country, which borders Colombia.
While the US War Department may have hit a snag in Ecuador, it has continued its major military buildup in Latin America, mainly in the Caribbean, as it’s working to revive old bases in Puerto Rico and Panama. The US is threatening to launch a war with Venezuela, with President Trump saying on Monday that he wouldn’t rule out sending troops into the country.
The US has also continued its bombing campaign against alleged drug-running boats in the region, which has involved the killing of at least 82 people, who were extra-judicially executed at sea. The Pentagon has provided no evidence to back up its claims about what the vessels it’s targeting are carrying and has admitted to Congress that it doesn’t know the identities of the people it’s bombing.
