U.S. base in Manta didn’t stop drug trafficking, says leader of commission that wrote 2008 constitution

The head of the commission that wrote Ecuador’s 2008 constitution, Alberto Acosta, says reestablishing a U.S. anti-narcotics base in the country is a “terrible” idea. He disagrees with claims by President Daniel Noboa that the closure of the base in 2009 allowed drug traffickers to the enter the country.

Alberto Acosta

“The drug gangs and cartels were already in the country when the base was established in 1999 and they continued to operate in the 10 years it was in Manta,” he said in an interview with Notimundo. “They were already shipping their product out of our ports. In fact, the flow of drugs into the country from Colombia and Mexico actually increased in those 10 years.”

He adds that the increase in drug seizures after the base closed has a simple explanation. “The government did almost no drug enforcement when the base was open, ceding that responsibility to the U.S. The enforcement resumed, obviously, when the base closed.”

Acosta admits the plan to amend the constitution to allow reestablishment of the base has popular and National Assembly support but insists it should be opposed.

“This is a smokescreen to divert attention from the serious problems facing the country,” he says. “It is pandering to the fears of the Ecuadorian people in the context of presidential election campaign.”

According to Acosta, language in the 2008 constitution prohibiting foreign military bases on Ecuadorian soil, was intended to protect the country’s sovereignty and to keep it out of political alliances that could be detrimental to national interests. “Look back at the meeting minutes of the constitutional assembly and you will understand the decision to protect the country from foreign interference. You will find the issue thoroughly and thoughtfully discussed. You will see why we inserted the language that Ecuador is country of peace. That reasoning still applies today.”

Acosta, a government minister before he was appointed president of the constituent assembly that drafted the new constitution, says reconsideration of the military base must be viewed in the context of the U.S.’s war on drugs. “That plan was an utter failure,” he says. “What happened with U.S. military operations in Colombia and Peru?” he asks. “What was the outcome of Plan Colombia? Drug trafficking actually increased — the facts are irrefutable.”

He adds that in many cases, U.S. soldiers interfered with the rights of law-abiding Ecuadorians when the base was in operation. “Fishermen and other boaters were under continual harassment from surveillance searches. The offshore inspections were random and carried out without any evidence of drug smuggling.”

Acosta believes Noboa is “bowing to the hidden agenda of the U.S.” in promoting the anti-drug base. “What they really want is to establish a large military base in Galapagos, not to combat drug trafficking, but to promote their geopolitical interests in the dispute with China,” he claimed. “Today, we allow them to operate surveillance aircraft from the islands but they want much more.”