Prof. Fredy Rivera of the Latin American University for Social Sciences stated that Ecuadorians oppose the base primarily because they do not want to be involved in Plan Colombia, of which the base is an integral part.
The Plan is a U.S.-funded counter-insurgency strategy against leftist forces in Colombia, crudely disguised as a counter-narcotics operation.
Since 1999 Manta has been used as a military location for U.S. air forces in conjunction with Ecuador for supporting anti-narcotics military operations and for carrying out surveillance flights in a strategic warfare program against Colombian drug trafficking cartels called Plan Colombia. It also serves as a geographical look out point for the U.S. for any war craft heading north from the Middle East and Asia. A regular stop for U.S. Navy warships, Manta proves to be of importance for its location and for the respite it offers the U.S. military with its beauty and untrampled wilderness.
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