The US military has vacated Forward Operating Location Manta at Eloy Alfaro AFB, Ecuador, and formally returned the installation to the control of the Ecuadoran military. According to press reports, the handover occurred on Sept. 18. The end of the US presence there marked the expiration of a 10-year lease agreement between the US and Ecuador that the latter chose not to renew. The US used FOL Manta as a hub for unarmed counternarcotics surveillance missions in the eastern Pacific. To compensate for its loss, the US reached an agreement with Colombia in August under which the US gains access rights to seven Colombian military bases, from which to mount counternarcotics and counterterrorist activities in the region. (See Associated Press’ Sept. 18 report and AFNS’s Sept. 23 report at Media-Newswire.com.)
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
