Eloy Alfaro International Airport is a combination civilian airport and military air base on the Pacific coast near Manta, a city in the
Manabí Province
Manabí () is a province in Ecuador. Its capital is Portoviejo. The province is named after the Manabí people.
Demographics
Ethnic groups as of the Ecuadorian census of 2010:
*Mestizo 66.7%
* Montubio 19.2%
* Afro-Ecuadorian 6.0%
*White 7 ...
A portion of the airport was used until July 2009 by the Air Forces Southern Air Force component of the United States Southern Command, for operations against illegal cocaine trafficking in northwestern South America. It was formally known as Forward Operating Location Manta. In 1999, the U.S. signed a ten-year agreement with then Ecuadorean President Jamil Mahuad allowing the U.S. to station up 475 military personnel at Manta, rent-free. USAF AWACSE-3 and United States Navy
P-3 Orion
The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner.The Washington Post'', September 4, 2008.
From before his election, PresidentRafael Correa stated that he would not renew the agreement that allowed the United States access to the base when it expires in November 2009, and commented that "We can negotiate with the U.S. about a base in Manta, if they let us put a military base in Miami..." . On March 19, 2008, the Ecuadorian Constituent Assembly voted to outlaw the installation of any foreign military bases and installations in Ecuador. On July 26, 2008, Ecuador's Foreign Ministry formally notified the U.S. embassy that the U.S. lease on the base would not be renewed.
Admiral James Stavridis, chief of the U.S. Southern Command stated on April 21, 2008, that there were no plans to find a replacement drug-interdiction air base in South America if Ecuador declined to renew the lease of Manta. Instead, the U.S. military would use existing air bases in
El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...
,
Curaçao
Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...
, and
Key West
Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...
, Florida for drug-surveillance flights. Other bases in the continental mass have been posited as candidates for a replacement. The most credible claim of a country likely to host such a base is probably
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
, whose base in
Puerto Salgar
Puerto Salgar () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the northwestern part of the Departments of Colombia, department of Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca. It came to international attention when the US ambassador in Colombia announced th ...
recently entered a process of recertification by the US military.
On April 14, 2009, U.S. ambassador to Colombia
William Brownfield
William Rivington Brownfield (born 1952) is a Career Ambassador in the United States Foreign Service and the former Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs as of January 10, 2011. He h ...
announced that the base would be relocating from Manta to a location somewhere in Colombia. Said Brownfield, "Colombia and the U.S. are collaborating on efforts against illegal drugs. Part of this collaboration, without doubt, requires access to facilities between both countries." As of July 2009, the U.S. was negotiating with Colombia to use Palanquero Air Base in
Puerto Salgar
Puerto Salgar () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the northwestern part of the Departments of Colombia, department of Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca. It came to international attention when the US ambassador in Colombia announced th ...
Miami Herald
The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a List of communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida, city in western Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the M ...
Guadalupe Larriva
Guadalupe Larriva (July 28, 1956 – January 24, 2007) was an Ecuadorian politician.
Larriva was born in Cuenca, the eldest daughter of Deifilio Larriva Polo and Teresita Gonzalez Harris. She was married to Rodrigo Avila. She held a Doctor ...
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Transport in Ecuador
Transportation in Ecuador can be summarized in the following areas: aviation, highways, pipelines, ports and harbors, railways, and waterways. Apart from transporting passengers, the country is a relatively small exporter of, alongside fruits and ...
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List of airports in Ecuador
This is a list of airports in Ecuador, sorted by location.
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Airports
Airport names shown in bold indicate the airport has scheduled service on commercial airlines.
See also
* Ecuadorian Air Force (''Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana'')
* ...