AFP: documents point to US military presence in Taura — Interia

Documents obtained by AFP journalists point to the presence of US military personnel at the Taura air base in Ecuador. As Interia reports, around 20 US armed forces flights were recorded at the base between June and mid-October.

Flights and base expansion

According to AFP, US military C-130 Hercules and C-17 Globemaster aircraft, as well as V-22 Osprey tiltrotors and Black Hawk helicopters, landed in Taura repeatedly. Several flights to Taura were operated from US military facilities, including the Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station in North Carolina and Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, with stopovers in Puerto Rico and Panama.

Satellite images analyzed by AFP indicate active construction work at the base in recent months. According to the agency, several hectares of vegetation were cleared there, new operational areas were set up, and dozens of structures resembling rapidly deployable military tents were installed. A structure measuring approximately 40 by 20 meters, resembling an aircraft maintenance hangar with a sliding roof, was also spotted on the complex's territory.

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Cooperation between Quito and Washington

The Taura air base is located about an hour's drive from Guayaquil, a Pacific port that AFP calls a transshipment point for cocaine from Latin America to the United States. It is Ecuador's only air base intended exclusively for military use; its runway is more than 3,000 meters long.

In September, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa announced cooperation with the United States and said it would be more appropriate to move everything to Taura. At the same time, details of the interaction between Quito and Washington are not disclosed, according to AFP: publicly, only the arrival of aircraft or equipment is reported occasionally.

Retired Air Force Colonel Roberto Marchan told AFP that the aircraft and structures spotted could indicate preparations for a long-term US operational presence. Ecuador has also joined the US anti-cartel initiative “Shield of the Americas,” aimed at combating drug smuggling and related violence in the region.