Flight data and satellite images reveal the rapid buildup of U.S. military activity at Ecuador air base

The isolated Taura Air Force base in Guayas Province has quietly become a key hub in the U.S.’ expanding war on drug trafficking, according to flight records, satellite imagery, witnesses and military documents.

A satellite image captured by Planet Labs PBC on October 10 shows two U.S. V-22 Osprey aircraft on the tarmac at the Taura Air Force base.

Located among shrimp farms and teak plantations about an hour from Guayaquil, the port that has become the major gateway for Latin American cocaine bound for the United States and Europe, the Taura complex plays an increasingly prominent role in President Daniel Noboa’s security alliance with Washington.

Reporters for the AFP media group, observed significant works at the decades-old facility, identified around 20 US military flights between June and mid-October, and obtained documents referring to the presence of U.S. troops at the base.

The buildup comes less than a year after Ecuadorans voted overwhelmingly against allowing foreign military bases,and has prompted questions from within the highest ranks of Ecuador’s armed forces.

In a letter obtained by AFP dated September 8, then Air Force commander Mauricio Salazar warned the top brass at Joint Armed Forces Command that hosting U.S. troops at Taura, supporting the U.S. Air Force and receiving ongoing flights by U.S. personnel might be illegal or unconstitutional.

His letter states that the U.S. Air Force would “use and modify infrastructure at the base” and operate “temporary support flights” from there.

Two days later, Salazar was removed from his post.

Flight records reviewed by AFP show repeated arrivals at Taura by US military aircraft, including C-130 Hercules and C-17 Globemaster transport planes, V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft and Black Hawk helicopters.

Several of the flights connected Taura with facilities in the United States, including the Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station in North Carolina and Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, with stopovers in Puerto Rico and Panama.