Country Snapshot

Population: 13,710,234 (July 2003 est.) Size, comparable to U.S.: slightly smaller than Nevada Per Capita GDP, not adjusted for PPP (year): $1,959. (2001) Income, wealthiest 10% / poorest 10%: 49.7/2.2 (1995) Population earning less than $2 a day: 52.3% Ranking, Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index: 113 out of 133 Defense Expenditure as a percentage of GDP: 2.1% (2001) Size of armed forces: 60,000 (2001) U.S. military personnel present: 33 (2003)

According to U.S. publications and statements, the main goals of U.S. security assistance to Ecuador are stopping narcotics cultivation and trafficking, engagement with the country’s security forces, improving Ecuador’s relations with Peru following the resolution of a border dispute, and halting any spillover of violence from Colombia. The U.S. military is also establishing a counter-drug “Forward Operating Location” at a facility on Ecuador’s Pacific coast.

Counternarcotics

The 2000 Congressional Presentation for the State Department’s International Narcotics Control (INC) program states that "the U.S. will continue to encourage the Government of Ecuador to place greater emphasis on Narcotics Law Enforcement."¹ All INC assistance to Ecuador is directed to the National Police, the military and the National Drug Council via the Ecuadorian Prosecutor General's office.²

"Given the instability in the region," notes the congressional Conference Committee that drew up the 2000 Foreign Operations appropriations bill, "the managers [committee members] have been concerned by the consistently low levels of support during the past several years provided to the Government of Ecuador in its efforts to stem the flow of drugs transiting through Ecuador from both Colombia and Peru." The committee required the State Department to submit a report "on its revised plans to assist Ecuador in improving its counternarcotics efforts."

Counternarcotics military assistance

The 1999 Congressional Presentation for the INC program described an upcoming INC-funded military aid effort.

A new Counternarcotics Military Support Project planned for 1999 would complement U.S. Military Group (MILGP) airbridge efforts (e.g. infrastructure support for A-37 aircraft) and assist the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the construction of a jungle road checkpoint and a barracks at Baeza. In addition, funds are required for related military countemarcotics training and miscellaneous operational support.”³

This military assistance project apparently did not get launched in 1999, as the 2000 INC Congressional Presentation contains the same two sentences, substituting “2000” for “1999.”⁴

The U.S. government nonetheless pursues other counternarcotics activities with the Ecuadorian military. A former U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat, donated to Ecuador’s navy in 1997, now makes counternarcotics patrols in coordination with the DEA in Guayaquil.⁵ In 1998 the U.S. embassy signed an agreement with Ecuador’s Air Force to allow sharing of radar tracking data.⁶

In September of 1998 and September of 1999, Ecuador’s military and police were granted “emergency drawdowns” of U.S. counternarcotics assistance. The aid -- $1.8 million in 1998 and $4 million in 1999 -- mainly consists of weapons, ammunition, vehicles, spare parts and training.⁷

The Defense Department, using its “Section 1004” authority, uses its own funds to offer counternarcotics training and assistance to Ecuadorian police and military units. U.S. Special Forces deploy frequently to Ecuador to offer counternarcotics training, mainly in light infantry skills.

Counternarcotics police assistance

Until recently, the Ecuadorian military had been focused largely on a dispute over the border with Peru, which erupted into open combat in 1995 but was settled in October 1998. The military’s focus on the border dispute helped give the Ecuadorian National Police (ENP) the main responsibility for drug enforcement activities.

The main goals of the INC program’s National Police Project are intelligence collection and analysis, and interdiction of drugs and other chemicals. The project’s strategies, according to the INC Congressional Presentation, include "strengthening airport enforcement with canine units, fixed and mobile roadblocks, aerial reconnaissance and drug eradication missions, support for the anti-narcotics intelligence center, and assistance for financial investigation units of the police and the Superintendency of Banks."⁸

In 1998, the U.S. Justice Department’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) helped open a Joint Information Coordination Center (JICC) in the port of Guayaquil. The center, under the command of Ecuador's Judicial Police, gathers intelligence about narcotrafficking activity and shares it with other agencies, among them the armed forces, National Police and U.S. counterparts. The State Department’s February 1999 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) regards the JICC as “an important first step in improving Ecuador's weak air and maritime port control programs.”⁹

The border with Colombia

U.S. policy statements make clear that a chief U.S. goal in Ecuador is to help the armed forces contain drug and guerrilla activity across the border in Colombia. “Bilateral military and counternarcotics assistance will increasingly focus on Ecuador’s northern border, where there is a risk of contagion from Colombia’s guerrillas and narcotraffickers,” reads the State Department’s 2000 Congressional Presentation for Foreign Operations.¹⁰ The INCSR notes that the Ecuadorian military is training “to improve its capacity to deter participation by Colombian guerilla groups in narcotics and chemical trafficking.”¹¹ Gen. Charles Wilhelm of the U.S. Southern Command (Southcom) told a Senate committee in June 1999 that he is “aggressively working” with Ecuador and Colombia’s other neighbors “to encourage unity of effort against a threat they are individually incapable of defeating.”¹²

A July 1999 U.S. Army news release describes a rather large Special Forces deployment for joint training with Ecuadorian forces at sites a few miles south of the Colombian border. Several Army and Navy Special Forces units were in Ecuador from May 5 to June 9, 1999 to train military personnel in weaponry, small unit tactics and airborne and water infiltration techniques.¹³ The deployment’s commander indicated that the activity’s primary purpose is “to train the host nation in specific skills to better prepare them to fight.”¹⁴

The news release discussed the force-protection risks associated with training near the Colombian border, “where the Putumayo and San Miguel rivers intersect and serve as a buffer zone between Ecuadorian forces and Colombian guerillas.” According to a U.S. sergeant quoted in the piece, “This area poses the biggest threat. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia across the river are used as muscle for drug trafficking. The hardest part is finding a place to train with such a high threat.”¹⁵

An Army civil affairs officer involved in the training activity, the release continues, gave advice on how “to close the gap between the Ecuadorian military and its civilian populace” by interacting with “communities most likely to be targeted as catalysts for the growth of an illegal empire.” Techniques included providing “civic action to the people in those areas by handing out toothbrushes, soap, notebooks, pens and pencils, and an occasional Power Bar.” The officer added, “The important thing is to visit local towns after the exercise to make sure no damage was caused by any of the operations, and if there is any damage, those people will need to be compensated.”¹⁶

The mission's final stage was "Operation Sucumbios," a ten-day joint-combined airborne operation near the Colombian border. Participants in the operation "re-took" empty encampments that had apparently been occupied by FARC guerrillas.

Other training

The Army news release offers a rare look at one of the roughly twenty to thirty Special Forces training visits to Ecuador each year. In 1998, Special Forces teams participating in JCET and counter-drug programs trained at least 1,188 troops in Ecuador. Training topics included light infantry and rotary-wing operations, marksmanship, breaching, medical skills, close quarters battle, foreign internal defense, and human rights.¹⁷

The International Military Education and Training (IMET) program provides non-counternarcotics training to about 130 Ecuadorian personnel each year. According to the State Department’s 1999 Congressional Presentation for Foreign Operations, IMET in Ecuador “focuses on professionalizing the military, fostering respect for the rule of law and human rights, and developing an understanding of civilian control of the military.” These are actually goals of Expanded IMET -- not regular IMET -- courses, which in 1996 through 1998 did not exceed 20 percent of the total IMET budget for Ecuador.¹⁸

Ecuadorian military personnel participate in some of Southcom’s regular multilateral training exercises, among them UNITAS and the Fuerzas Aliadas Chile, Fuerzas Aliadas Humanitarian, and United Counterdrug seminars. From May to September 1998 U.S. Army South carried out a “New Horizons” Humanitarian and Civic Assistance (HCA) exercise, which built schools and clinics and provided medical services.¹⁹

Other arms transfers

In its 2000 appropriations bill for Foreign Operations, Congress required that $1 million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) funds be made available for assistance to Ecuador.

Since 1996 Ecuador has received a patrol boat and a small amount non-lethal equipment through the Excess Defense Articles (EDA) program. Section 1018 of the 1999 National Defense Authorization Act approved an additional grant of a floating dry dock through the EDA program.

Ecuador is a regular buyer of U.S. weapons and equipment through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) and Direct Commercial Sales (DCS) programs. Recent purchases include spare parts, small arms, ammunition, and technical assistance; DCS licenses were issued in 1998 for three Bell 205A and 206A series helicopters.²⁰

Bases and other presences

An agreement with Ecuador is allowing the U.S. Southern Command temporary use of part of the Eloy Alfaro International Airport in the city of Manta, on Ecuador’s Pacific coast about 210 miles south of Colombia. Through an arrangement called a “Forward Operating Location,” or “FOL,” U.S. aircraft on counter-drug detection and monitoring missions have access to the Manta airport, which remains owned and operated by Ecuador. Small numbers of military, DEA, Coast Guard and Customs personnel are stationed at Manta to support the U.S. aircraft and to coordinate communications and intelligence.

In late 1999, the United States and Ecuador reached an agreement allowing the U.S. military access to Manta for ten years. Though the original interim agreement for use of the Manta airport was signed in April 1999, required infrastructure improvements kept the FOL from becoming operational until mid-June.²¹ A U.S. Air Force “Site Activation Task Force” visit to the facility found that the site needs numerous basic repairs and improvements before it can come close to filling its expected capacity. Until these measures are taken, for instance, the Manta FOL cannot accommodate AWACS radar planes, which Southcom considers essential for counternarcotics detection and monitoring.²²

Once the site is fully operational, Manta will host five to eight U.S. aircraft and six to eight permanent U.S. support staff. The number of temporarily assigned staff will fluctuate but is expected to reach the low hundreds during peak periods.²³

Another open-ended U.S. presence may begin operating in 2000 at the border between Ecuador and Peru, where U.S. personnel, chiefly Special Forces, may advise a demining operation at the site of the resolved border conflict.²⁴

Sources:

¹ United States, Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Fiscal Year 2000 Budget Congressional Presentation (Washington: Department of State: March 1999): 28 <http://www.state.gov/www/global/narcotics_law/fy2000_budget/latin_america.html>.

²  Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Fiscal Year 2000 Budget Congressional Presentation 28.

³ United States, Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Fiscal Year 1999 Budget Congressional Presentation (Washington: Department of State: March 1998): 34.

⁴ Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Fiscal Year 2000 Budget Congressional Presentation 29.

⁵ Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, 1998.

United States, Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Department of State, International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, 1997, Washington, March 1998, March 2, 1998 <http://www.state.gov/www/global/narcotics_law/1997_narc_report/index.html>.

⁶ Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, 1998.

⁷ United States, White House, "Draft Working Document: FY99 506(a)(2) Drawdown List -- Requested Items," Memorandum, September 30, 1999.

United States, Department of State, "Memorandum of Justification for use of Section 506(a)(2) special authority to draw down articles, services, and military education and training," September 15, 1998.

⁸ Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Fiscal Year 2000 Budget Congressional Presentation 29.

⁹ U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, 1998, (Washington: Department of State: February 1999): <http://www.state.gov/www/global/narcotics_law/1998_narc_report/major/Ecuador.html.>

¹⁰ United States, Department of State, Congressional Presentation for Foreign Operations, Fiscal Year 2000, (Washington: Department of State: March 1999): 881.

¹¹ Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, 1998.

¹² Gen. Charles E. Wilhelm, USMC, Commander in Chief, U.S. Southern Command, United States Department of Defense, Statement before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps, Narcotics and Terrorism, June 22, 1999  <http://www.usia.gov/cgi-bin/washfile/display.pl?p=/products/washfile/geog/ar&f=99062203.lar&t=/products/washfile/newsitem.shtml >.

¹³ Spc. Jon Creese, “Special Ops units help Ecuador fight drug war,” Army News Service, July 7, 1999 <http://www.dtic.mil/armylink/news/Jul1999/a19990707ecuador.html>.

¹⁴ Creese.

¹⁵ Creese.

¹⁶ Creese.

¹⁷ United States, Defense Department, "Report on Training of Special Operations Forces for the Period Ending September 30, 1998," Washington, April 1, 1999.

United States, Defense Department, State Department, "Foreign Military Training and DoD Engagement Activities of Interest In Fiscal Years 1998 and 1999: A Report To Congress," Washington, March 1999: 3, 16.

¹⁸ United States, Defense Security Assistance Agency, "International Military Education and Training Program: Expanded-IMET Students Trained," memo in response to congressional inquiry, Washington, October 1997: 2-3.

United States, Defense Security Assistance Agency, Standardized Training Listing as of 17 September 1997 (Washington: DSAA, September 1997).

United States, Defense Security Cooperation Agency, memo in response to congressional inquiry, Washington, March 5, 1999.

¹⁹ United States Southern Command, J34, Exercise Program Quick-View, (U.S. Southern Command: October 13, 1998).

United States, Department of Defense, U.S. Southern Command, "New Horizon - Ecuador 98," Slideshow document, March 2, 1998.

²⁰ United States, Department of State, Department of Defense, Foreign Military Assistance Act Report To Congress, Fiscal Year 1996 (Washington: September 1997).

United States, Department of Defense, Defense Security Assistance Agency, Defense Articles (Including Excess) and Services (Including Training) Furnished Foreign Countries and International Organizations Under the Foreign Military Sales Provisions of The Arms Export Control Act, Chapter 2 (Washington: August 1998).

United States, Department of Defense, Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Defense Articles (Including Excess) and Services (Including Training) Furnished Foreign Countries and International Organizations Under the Foreign Military Sales Provisions of The Arms Export Control Act, Chapter 2 (Washington: July 1999).

United States, Department of State, Department of Defense, U.S. Arms Exports: Direct Commercial Sales Authorizations for Fiscal Year 97 (Washington: August 1998): 1.

United States, Department of State, U.S. Arms Exports: Direct Commercial Sales Authorizations for Fiscal Year 98 (Washington: July 1999): 26-7.

²¹ United States, General Accounting Office, “Drug Control: Narcotics Threat From Colombia Continues to Grow,”  Report to Congressional Requesters no. GAO/NSIAD-99-136, Washington, June 1999 <http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/useftp.cgi?IPaddress=162.140.64.21&filename=ns99136.txt&directory=/diskb/wais/data/gao> Adobe Acrobat (pdf) version <http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/useftp.cgi?IPaddress=162.140.64.21&filename=ns99136.pdf&directory=/diskb/wais/data/gao>.

²² Charles E. Wilhelm, Commander in Chief, United States Southern Command, “Statement Before the Senate Appropriations Committee Defense Suecommitee and the Military Construction Subcommittee on Forward Operating Locations,” Washington, July 14, 1999.

²³ Wilhelm, July 14, 1999.

²⁴ Department of State, Congressional Presentation for Foreign Operations, Fiscal Year 2000 882.