Tall & Rich

As the US nears the end the lease on it’s 10-years of operating an airbase in Manta, Ecuador, it seems the locals are succumbing to the Bolivarian Revolution conspiracy theories and they want the American pilots out (Miami Herald link);

”There is so much misconception out there as to what we do here and what’s going on,” he said. “And as you get further away from Manta, those misconceptions grow.”

Soon after the Colombian incursion, which killed 25 people, including FARC leader Raúl Reyes and an Ecuadorean national, rumors swirled in Ecuador’s press that it was spy planes from Manta that helped pinpoint the rebel camp — and may have even carried the bombs for the strike.

The United States insists that the stories are fiction, and analysts point out that Colombia has little need for such help. But the rumors have found a receptive audience in Ecuador, and the government has called for an audit of Manta’s operations.

What it will find, Leonard says, are a handful of unarmed aircraft, dedicated solely to looking for drug runners at sea and in the air.

The article goes on to quote President Rafael Correa declaring that he supports the battle against the drug lords, but his actions and the actions of his fellow party members tell a different story.

President Correa — a staunch ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez — has made the ousting of the Manta base central to his presidency, and he recently led a shake-up of Ecuador’s armed forces, alleging that they were infiltrated by the CIA and too cozy with U.S. military advisors.

Colombia, a staunch U.S. ally, is accusing the Correa administration of sympathizing with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Colombia claims that a FARC laptop, seized during a controversial and bloody cross-border raid into Ecuador on March 1, revealed that Correa’s election campaign took FARC money.

Colombia also alleges that María Augusta Calle — a member of Correa’s Alianza País party who is pushing constitutional changes that would ban the Manta operation — allowed the FARC to use her bank account.

The Panamanians wanted the American out, too, for decades, and then when it finally happened, they weren’t so sure that they were glad the gringos were leaving. Every time I go down there, I’m constantly asked when the Americans are coming back. They didn’t like the idea of us being there, but they sure missed our dollars when we left. Maybe the residents of Manta should talk to the Panamanians.