Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem arrived in Ecuador Nov. 5 for a two-day visit, timed just a week before a scheduled Nov. 16 national referendum to overturn a constitutional prohibition on the stationing of U.S. military bases on Ecuadorian soil. The neoliberal oligarch Ecuadorian President, Daniel Noboa, a firm U.S. ally, has been clamoring for some time for U.S. anti-drug, anti-terrorism assistance, including deployment of U.S. troops to his country. But he cannot invite the U.S. to set up bases unless the constitutional ban is overturned.
This was Noem’s second trip to Ecuador in the space of four months. Her visit should be seen in the context of the Trump administration’s military and naval regime change offensive against Venezuela in the Caribbean, and in their attempts to firm up military and security alliances aimed at hemispheric “adversaries” China and Russia. Noboa is anxious to consolidate his relationship with the U.S. for both economic and military support.
