Ecuador legislature backs reform allowing foreign military bases
The proposal was supported by 82 lawmakers while 60 voted against and six abstained. It must now be put to voters in a referendum on a date set by the electoral authorities.
Noboa, who began a full term in late May, has said international cooperation is required to combat drug trafficking groups operating across jurisdictions.
Lawmakers from his party have said that since a previous U.S. base was closed, Ecuador has become a top hub for narcotics trafficking.
But the opposition says foreign military presence alone will not solve the country's security problems and that the government needs a clear plan to combat crime.
The coastal city of Manta hosted the U.S. military base for a decade until 2009. Former leftist president Rafael Correa decided not to renew the base's permissions and pushed a constitutional reform to bar foreign military bases in Ecuador.
Ecuadorean officials have told allies of U.S. President Donald Trump that they are interested in hosting a U.S. base, sources told Reuters in March.
Noboa and Trump had an informal meeting soon after in Florida. Neither has provided many details of what they discussed.
National assembly president Niels Olsen is a close Noboa ally.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
5 hours ago
- BBC News
Devon and Cornwall county lines crackdown leads to 41 arrests
More than 40 arrests have been made across Devon and Cornwall in a police county lines Scorpion targets gangs who use young people to traffic drugs into the region from major cities, including Manchester and seven-day operation is run by five police forces, including Devon and Cornwall, Avon and Somerset, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, British Transport Police and the South West Regional Organised Crime Hernandez, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, said the crackdown was about taking "street level dealers out of action". Cash and drugs seized Drugs including crack, cocaine, heroin and cannabis were seized along with nearly £60,000 in cash, said police. A number of phones, suspected to have been used to coordinate county lines drug deals, were also seized and 41 arrests were Hernandez said the operations were important in tackling organised crimes gangs who see the south west as a soft touch."We have been doing this for a couple of years now and have got a bit of a battle rhythm going on," Ms Hernandez added."One of the challenges that we face is that we have got a lot of people who are also being exploited, and we need to go and intervene in their lives as well. " As well as carrying out raids across Devon and Cornwall, police also took sniffer dog patrols to Torquay train station to try and intercept suspected county lines traffickers as they Scorpion 12 also involved officers going into neighbourhoods to visit people believed to be vulnerable to being exploited by the drugs gangs.
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
History of Powerball winner arrested just days after pocketing $167.3M jackpot revealed
A man who recently claimed a $167.3 million Powerball jackpot has been unmasked as a career criminal with a lengthy rap sheet spanning more than three decades. James Shannon Farthing, 50, of Georgetown, Kentucky, made headlines in April after splitting the historic jackpot with his mother, Linda Grizzle, but his past soon came back into focus following his arrest just two days after the win, prompting scrutiny of his criminal history. Farthing has spent a cumulative 30 years behind bars for a wide range of offenses, including domestic violence involving strangulation, attempted bribery of correctional officers while incarcerated, and the distribution of cocaine to an undercover law enforcement agent, according to a report. His decades-long criminal record dates back to his teen years, as he was only able to complete 10 years of formal schooling, ultimately earning his GED in prison, The Smoking Gun reported. In his later years, Farthing escalated his criminal activities by becoming involved in drug trafficking, reportedly enlisting his mother in a plot to smuggle marijuana into a maximum-security correctional facility. He ultimately accepted a plea agreement that exonerated Grizzle of involvement, resulting in a 10-year prison sentence, according to the report. However, Farthing's incarceration did little to curb his misconduct. He was repeatedly placed in administrative segregation for infractions that included smuggling various forms of contraband - such as drugs and alcohol-related items - into the prison. Additionally, he was known to extort fellow inmates by charging them for the return of personal belongings he had stolen, according to the report. The heavily tattooed career criminal was also repeatedly denied parole, in part due to his extensive and ongoing pattern of criminal behavior, which showed little indication of abating. Farthing's physical transformation has been extensively documented through numerous mug shots over the years. But, even his recent acquisition of enormous wealth has not curtailed his criminal tendencies. Earlier this year, on April 30, while vacationing in Florida with his girlfriend, Farthing was arrested at the TradeWinds Island Resort in St. Pete Beach after allegedly punching a fellow guest and kicking a responding deputy in the face - just days after his record-breaking lottery win. Police were called to the resort's bar around 11:10 p.m. after reports of a physical altercation between Farthing and another guest. Authorities said Farthing was intoxicated, uncooperative and aggressive, ultimately lashing out violently at law enforcement. The deputy was reported to have swelling and redness on the right side of his face under his eye, according to an affidavit. The jackpot winner now faces charges of battery on a law enforcement officer - a felony - and a pair of misdemeanors, resisting an officer without violence and battery. In addition, officials in Kentucky have issued a warrant for violating his parole, which stems from prior convictions for theft and drug offenses. The winning $2 ticket was purchased at a Clark's Pump-N-Shop in Georgetown, where Farthing and his mother were faced with the choice of receiving 30 annual payments or take the cash option of $77.3 million.
Telegraph
5 hours ago
- Telegraph
I felt a lot safer in Israel under Iranian attack than I do back home in Britain
Visiting Israel during the recent Iranian attacks, several times I saw Israeli interceptors hurtling single-mindedly through the night sky over Tel Aviv towards an unseen Iranian ballistic missile. I'd been in active warzones before, but even so, in my experience it is a uniquely reassuring sight. The IDF Air Defence Command shot down around 86 per cent of some 500 missiles Iran fired during the twelve day war, and stopped 99 per cent of over 1,000 drones. If drones are the future of warfare, they were a busted flush in this conflict, when faced with the most sophisticated air defence system in the world. That system is made up of a wide range of expensive and precisely directed and coordinated interceptors including Arrow, David's Sling, Barak and Iron Dome, supplemented by US Thaad launchers and SM interceptors fired by US warships near Israel. Ever since Saddam Hussein fired 42 Scud missiles at Israel during the 1991 Gulf War, Jerusalem has been working assiduously to defend its people against all forms of air attack. Thirty four years of research and development and tactical and technical innovation accompanied by heavy financial investment has more than paid off in the face of missile and drone attacks from Iran, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq. Israel's strategy is not just to meet threats from the air but to overmatch them, and the IDF continues to work flat out to maintain its qualitative edge as its enemies learn from their own failures. Now I'm back home in Britain, and to be honest I don't feel nearly as safe as I did in Israel under active attack. The UK has made almost no effort in this sphere and today we are undefended against all but the most limited forms of attack. What defences we do have are too few to cover much of our territory. Our only protection against ballistic missiles is the Royal Navy's six Type 45 destroyers, armed with Sea Viper anti-air missiles – just two of these ships are typically available for duty. Even their capabilities are limited compared to the Israeli equivalent: HMS Diamond did shoot down an Iranian ballistic missile fired by the Houthis last year, but Sea Viper is not meant to be capable of ballistic intercept and the enemy weapon was probably quite basic: of the type often dubbed 'quasi ballistic'. If one of our aircraft carriers sails across the world, as is the case today, she takes a destroyer with her and we are down to one to protect the UK. Aside from our one available destroyer, a few RAF quick response fighters can be launched to intercept enemy planes, cruise missiles and drones. The Army has a few batteries of short-range air defence missiles. We do not have any up and running airborne radar systems, meaning that we have very limited ability to detect low-flying incoming threats. Our combined defences don't come anywhere close to meeting the threat we face today. The UK homeland can easily be struck by a range of Russian missiles – ballistic, cruise, hypersonics and drones – fired from Russia itself or from its aircraft, ships or submarines. There is a man in the Kremlin who has proved his willingness to use the weapons against military targets as well as population centres, and has already ordered lethal attacks of a different type against civilians in our country. I wonder if Keir Starmer realised that, and our inability to effectively defend against such strikes, when he led with his chin on heading a 'coalition of the willing' against Russia. Perhaps he has realised now and maybe that explains why he's gone so quiet. But it only gets worse. Within 15 years ballistic missiles fired from anywhere in the world will likely be able to hit targets anywhere else in the world: such systems have already been tested. Unless our capabilities improve dramatically, we will be comprehensively deterred from any unilateral action, no matter how vital it may be. The Israelis also understand something else we seem to have forgotten: attack is the best form of defence. During the twelve day war they didn't just rely on their interceptors but, using combat planes, ships and drones, they relentlessly struck at Iran's launchers, knocking out at least half of them – as well as missile and drone stocks and production facilities. Meanwhile our Attorney General, Lord Hermer, reportedly advised Starmer that Britain's participation in these operations would be illegal. Churchill received no such advice when he launched a 600 bomber raid against the German V-weapon missile development site at Peenemunde in 1943 and then, Israel-style, proceeded to pummel warehouses, storage facilities, rail tracks and launch sites connected with the V-weapons. As well as re-discovering the political spine necessary to defend ourselves, we need to rapidly build up our missile defences. That's not going to be achieved by decades of the glacial procurement processes for which the Ministry of Defence is infamous. It would be a good idea to follow the German example of buying Arrow off the shelf from Israel. But wait, the Government has an arms embargo against the Israelis. Perhaps, however, we should not be listening to the pro-Hamas hordes on our streets (just four per cent of Brits supported Hamas in a YouGov poll in March, while over half said they had at least some sympathy for Israel). We might rather consider our own national security interests instead of performatively attacking an ally in need – an ally that can also help us. It's past time for joined up strategic thinking plus some Churchillian 'action this day'.
