U.S. drug monitoring aircraft allowed to refuel at Galapagos airport under new agreement

[Judi Lynn]

Jun 13, 2019

The president of the Galápagos government council is denying social media reports that Ecuador has agreed to allow the United States to establish a military base at the San Cristóbal airport in the Galapagos Islands.

“This is fake news being purveyed for political reasons,” says council president Norman Wray. “There is not now, or will there ever be a foreign military base on the islands. The agreement our government has with the U.S. is to simply to allow two drug reconnaissance aircraft to refuel at the airport.”

He added: “Foreign military bases are prohibited on Ecuadorian soil by the constitution.”

According to Wray, the agreement with the U.S. involves Peru and Colombia as well as Ecuador, and is intended to combat the growing transport of drugs in the Pacific Ocean. “The Government is committed to the protection of the national territory and waters in the face of a growing threat from drug traffickers and other types of illegal activity,” he said. He added that the flights, conducted by the four countries, are also patrolling the Pacific Ocean for illegal fishing activities.

More:
https://cuencahighlife.com/u-s-drug-monitoring-aircraft-allowed-to-refuel-at-galapagos-airport-under-new-agreement/

There are some comments after this article which are worth reading and remembering.

[Judi Lynn]

1. Ecuador: Galapagos Islands Will Now Serve US Military as Airfield

June 14, 2019

U.S. military planes will have access to the island based on “cooperation” agreements signed under Lenin Moreno’s administration.

Ecuador’s right-wing government has agreed for the United States (U.S.) to use the airport of San Cristobal, in the Galapagos Islands, as an airfield for U.S. air force and navy Pacific ocean operations, according to the Minister of Defense Oswaldo Jarrin.

“Galapagos is Ecuador’s natural aircraft carrier because it ensures permanence, replenishment, interception facilities and is 1,000 kilometers from our coasts,” he assured, explaining that now U.S. military planes will also have access to it based on “cooperation” agreements signed under Lenin Moreno’s administration to “fight drug trafficking.”

On September 2018, a Lockheed P-3 Orion intelligence-gathering plane from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency began to operate from Ecuador. While a Boeing 707 aircraft from the U.S. air force, carrying a long-range radar surveillance and control center (AWAC), will now also be “patrolling” the Pacific. Both operations are reminiscent of those made by the U.S. government from the Base in Manta from 1999 to 2009.

More:
https://orinocotribune.com/ecuador-galapagos-islands-will-now-serve-us-military-as-airfield?fbclid=IwAR05SE8jo4KihRccX-R2Mz2ijeEPx7St4LdVfE0x_6jbfoUUavTv6WKzgpc