Ecuadoreans are voting on whether to lift a constitutional ban on foreign military bases as right-wing President Daniel Noboa pushes for help from the United States in confronting spiralling drug-fuelled violence.Nearly 14 million people cast ballots on Sunday in a referendum that also asks whether to reduce the number of lawmakers.Recommended Stories list of 2 itemsend of listThe vote comes as Ecuador grapples with unprecedented bloodshed, with the country’s homicide rate projected to hit 50 per 100,000 people this year, the highest in Latin America.Polls suggest more than 61 percent of voters back allowing foreign bases, which would likely see the US return to the Manta airbase on the Pacific coast.US forces operated from Manta between 1999 and 2009 as part of anti-narcotics efforts, until leftist President Rafael Correa held a referendum on foreign troops, resulting in their constitutional ban.Ecuador, once considered one of the more stable countries in the region, has in recent years faced a sharp rise in violence, with drug cartels, including powerful ones from Mexico, exploiting porous borders and weak institutions to expand their influence.Noboa, a 37-year-old heir to a prominent banana-exporting fortune, who took office in November 2023, has responded with militarised crackdowns, deployed soldiers to the streets and prisons, launched raids on gang strongholds, declared states of emergency and tightened security at key infrastructure hubs.The first half of this year saw 4,619 murders, the highest on record, according to Ecuador’s Organized Crime …
