Ecuador rejects reopening of US base in the country

In a referendum, Ecuadorians refuse constitutional change that would allow foreign troops to operate in the country. The result represents a defeat for President Daniel Noboa.

The population of Ecuador rejected this Sunday (16/11) that the country would once again host foreign military bases. The decision was taken in a national referendum and represents a defeat for Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, who defended the deployment of American forces in the country to combat the spread of drug trafficking.

So far, 61% of voters have opposed the resumption of foreign bases in Ecuador, banned since 2008. With 96% of the votes counted, the result can no longer be reversed. Furthermore, 62% of the population also rejected the proposal to convene a new Constituent Assembly that would have the objective of designing a new Magna Carta, tougher against organized crime.

Ecuadorians also rejected the end of state funding for political parties (58%) and the reduction in the number of congressmen (53%).

The result was taken as a surprise by Noboa’s office, as voting intention polls considered his victory certain. He accepted the defeat in a publication in

The Ecuadorian president even received US representatives to present the former American military bases in the coastal cities of Manta and Salinas, currently used by the Ecuadorian armed forces.

Until 2008, Manta was the operational center of US interception activities, and was closed after a reformulation of the Constitution led by former president Rafael Correa, which banned foreign bases. The referendum takes place amid escalating military pressure from the White House in the waters of the Caribbean and the Pacific, where it carries out repeated attacks on suspected drug traffickers’ boats. Noboa defends this offensive as a strategy against cocaine trafficking that leaves mainly its ports.

This was the Ecuadorian president’s last attempt to pass the measure, which had already been rejected in clashes with parliamentarians. He was also blocked by the courts when trying to pass other changes to the law, such as chemical castration for rapists or surveillance without a court order. Almost 14 million voters were called to cast a mandatory vote.

On the streets of Quito, dozens of people celebrated the results with whistles and shouts of “Noboa out, out”. “It is the triumph of the Ecuadorian people over the dictatorship,” Ricardo Moreno, a 70-year-old retiree, told the AFP news agency.

Noboa received an American delegation to propose the return of American troops | Alex Brandon/ REUTERS

“Nefarious” campaign

Ecuador is going through a security crisis, being responsible for the highest homicide rate in Latin America: 39 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2024, according to Insight Crime.

In power since November 2023, Noboa has mobilized soldiers on the streets and in prisons and declared frequent states of exception, criticized by human rights organizations, which also denounce abuses by security forces and an increase in the number of people missing in police and military operations.

Born in the USA and with a tough stance against crime, Noboa campaigned intensely for a change in the Constitution. A few minutes after voting began, he announced the capture in Spain of the head of the powerful criminal organization Los Lobos. “Today we captured ‘Pipo’ Chavarría, the most sought-after criminal in the region (…) who faked his death, changed his identity and hid in Europe,” he wrote in X.

Noboa is betting on international cooperation to curb drug trafficking and has become one of the biggest allies of Donald Trump’s government. Since coming to power, he has strengthened ties with Washington through migration, tariff and security agreements.

This is the president’s worst electoral setback after, in 2024, he achieved approval via referendum for the extradition of Ecuadorians and the increase in penalties for organized crime.

Originally published by DW on 11/17/2025