Ecuador Grants U.S. Use Of Air Base

QUITO--Ecuador has agreed to let the United States use one of its air
bases for 10 years as part of regional efforts to crack down on drug
trafficking.

Under the deal, signed by Foreign Minister Benjamin Ortiz, unarmed
U.S. surveillance planes will operate from the Manta military air base
on Ecuador's coast. The U.S. aircraft will only be permitted to carry
out anti-drug operations.

As part of the deal, the United States, Ecuador's largest trading
partner, will invest $70 million in the Manta air base over the course
of the pact.

Top U.S. anti-drug official Barry R. McCaffrey has said Ecuador is
increasingly being used as a transit point for shipments of drugs from
Bolivia, Peru and Colombia to the United States and Europe.