Noboa meets with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary to discuss assistance in drug trafficking fight

President Daniel Noboa met Wednesday with U,S, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem at the former Eloy Alfaro military base in Manta. The meeting aimed to advance bilateral cooperation against drug trafficking and transnational organized crime, with a focus on assessing the possibility of a U.S. military installation in Ecuador.

U,S, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and President Daniel Noboa during a Wednesday ceremony in Manta.

The visit, which included a tour of the base’s runways, infrastructure, and aircraft equipment, and comes amid Noboa’s push for a constitutional referendum that could permit the establishment of foreign bases in Ecuador. According to two recent polls, voters favor the foreign base question by a wide margin.

According to Noboa, another of the objectives of Noem’s visit was to review technological capabilities for detecting threats across large areas, including territorial waters and borders.

Local officials, including Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo, highlighted the location’s history, noting the Manta base previously operated as a Forward Operating Location (FOL) for the U.S. Southern Command until 2009 when a new Ecuadorian constitution disallowed the presence of a foreign military installation.

Noboa affirmed his nation’s commitment on social media, declaring: “Ecuador will end drug trafficking from Manabí. Playas and Santa Elena.” He added that a cooperation initiative is vital given the sharp rise in violence related to drug trafficing in recent years. Official data for the first half of 2025 shows 4,619 homicides, a 47% increase compared to 2024, almost all of it concentrated in Ecuador’s coastal region, near shipping ports.

Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld and Interior Minister John Reimberg, who accompanied Noboa in his meeting with Noem, emphasized that transnational crime ignores borders, making international collaboration essential. US support includes not only equipment and materiel but also shared training and courses on combating drug trafficking and terrorism.
This is Noem’s second visit to Ecuador this year. In July, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Ecuadorean government signed an agreement for aerial and coastal surveillance. The visit takes place less than two weeks before the November 16 referendum that could open the door to the return of a U.S. military base.

On Wednesday, Noem said that any U.S. base would include a small number of personnel with an emphasis on technology to detect land, sea and port drug shipments.

On Thursday, Secretary Noem is scheduled to visit the Cosme Rennella air base in Salinas, Santa Elena, to solidify technical cooperation mechanisms.