Ecuador Gives US the Boot

[Cold_Zero]

http://www.military.com/news/a...20397

Apparently, our lease on using Manta AB in Ecuador is set to expire and Ecuador is not renewing the lease. Dont worry about Drug Interdiction flights being halted, the DOD has re-activated the US Navy 4th Fleet.

http://www.navy.mil/search/dis...36606

bud

[96Qowner]

Yep, the present Ecuadoran leadership is chummy with Chavez.

[Cold_Zero]

I am glad that my cousin and his kids are out of Ecuador now. Its interesting, Ecuador uses the US Dollar as currency.bud

[skylndrftr]

Yep, the present Ecuadoran leadership is chummy with Chavez.

this is part of their new constitution which was passed by a group democratically elected by the people. We push democracy all over the world, we can't pull it back just because we don't like the results.

[96Qowner]

Isn't Chavez a democratically elected leader, too?

So, you're a fan of his? You like the way he's nationalizing the oil industry? You like the way he's making the country his own lil fiefdom?

I see a lot of knee-jerk stuff coming out of people on this board. I'm not sure what your point was. I say Ecuador's leadership is chummy with Chavez (who is loudly anti-USA) - you reply that democracy is a good thing. Does one have something to do with the other?

[Cold_Zero]

We push democracy all over the world, we can't pull it back just because we don't like the results.

If that is the case, then same goes for Colombia where our government may like the results of an election, yet we the populous may not like their president.

[skylndrftr]

Isn't Chavez a democratically elected leader, too?

So, you're a fan of his? You like the way he's nationalizing the oil industry? You like the way he's making the country his own lil fiefdom?

I see a lot of knee-jerk stuff coming out of people on this board. I'm not sure what your point was. I say Ecuador's leadership is chummy with Chavez (who is loudly anti-USA) - you reply that democracy is a good thing. Does one have something to do with the other?

You were being critical of one democratically elected official for supporting another elected official simply because you dislike their politics. As a coutnry that wants to be the home of democracy, we should support whatever democratically elected governments exist...even if they disagree with use or flat out do not like us.

[srellim234]

I don't see it as that big of a deal. From the U.S. Embassy site:

http://ecuador.usembassy.gov/t....html

FORWARD OPERATING LOCATION (FOL) – MANTA, ECUADORFOL MISSION

"The mission of the FOL is to help Ecuador protect the sovereignty of its territory against the transnational crime of drug trafficking. We are supporting efforts in the Eastern Pacific to intercept the flow of drugs that threatens the health, safety and economic stability of our hemisphere. Our cooperation with Ecuador is producing positive results." --U.S. Ambassador Linda Jewell

In 1999 the U.S. and Ecuador signed a bilateral agreement that permits the U.S. to use a portion of the Ecuadorian Eloy Alfaro Air Force Base in Manta as a Forward Operating Location (FOL) to conduct counter-narcotics flights. The agreement expires in November 2009.

The FOL is an important part of the cooperation between the U.S. Government and the Government of Ecuador to combat the transnational threat of drug trafficking and protect Ecuador, its citizens and institutions, from the negative impact of international drug traffickers.

The FOL is not a U.S. base. It is located within the Ecuadorian Eloy Alfaro Air Force Base and occupies less than 5% of the physical territory of the Eloy Alfaro Base.

The FOL consists of parking spaces for up to 8 unarmed aircraft (4 large and 4 medium-to-small) which fly counter-narcotics aerial surveillance missions, focused on the Eastern Pacific maritime zone. A handful of small buildings support the crews and staff who service these flights (dormitories, a cafeteria and office space)

[Cold_Zero]

I dont necessarily agree with your assertion. Robert Mugabe is a perfect example. He is a democratically elected official in Zimbabwe and I do not think that we should support him nor leave alone to run his country (into the ground). I have a friend whose father was murdered on his farm by blacks. A practice, along with land re-distribution, that Mugabe endorses and yet lies to the World that it does not go on in his country. He has run the bread basket of Africa into the ground and I hope he is assassinated.

[Cold_Zero]

I don't see it as that big of a deal.

It isnt, but it is an interesting topic. I hope that US and Ecuadoran relations do not go sour, though. Again, I am glad my cousin and his kids are out of Ecuador and he no longer has to work in southern Colombia.