Ecuador Says Ties With
U.S. Not To Sour Over
Stoppage of Military
Base Contract
The Ecuadorian
government said on
Tuesday that its ties
with the United States
will not be strained by
Ecuador's refusal to
renew the contract with
the U.S. military for
renting Ecuador's Manta
base after 2009.
Ecuadorian Defense
Minister Javier Ponce
said the two countries
will not break their
relations after the
stoppage of the
contract, which gives
the United States a
lease until 2009.
It is necessary to
reduce the U.S.
influence in Ecuador's
society as well as its
political and military
fields, Ponce told the
Teleamazonas channel.
But he admitted that the
training of Ecuadorian
soldiers in the United
States would be
"reconsidered," and may
be suspended or limited.
"If necessary, other
training sources, like
Argentina, Brazil and
Chile, will be sought.
Latin America is very
rich in that aspect," he
added.
Ponce said Ecuadorian
President Rafael Correa
was "brave" to denounce
that some Ecuadorian
intelligence departments
had handed over
intelligence to the U.S.
Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) during a
recent Colombia-Ecuador
border crisis.
Ecuadorian Defense
Minister Wellington
Sandoval resigned over
the scandal on April 9
and President Correa
also sacked some other
senior military
officers.
The United States has
used the Manta base,
located in Manabi
province and off the
Pacific's coast, to
fight drug trafficking
since 1999.
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