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Ecuadoreans privately float U.S. military base for South

American country

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Daniel Noboa, Ecuador's incumbent, heading for tight April

election

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Ecuador also pushing for free trade deal with U.S.

By Gram Slattery and Alexandra Valencia

WASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) - Ecuadorean officials

have told allies of U.S. President Donald Trump that they are

interested in hosting a U.S. military base in the South American

country, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the

matter.

The officials also said they were interested in inking a

free trade deal with the United States, which has eluded the

Andean nation, even as neighboring Colombia and Peru have had

bilateral accords with the U.S. for over a decade, said the

sources, who requested anonymity to describe private

conversations.

The expressions of interest were delivered in recent weeks

to Republican lobbyists in Washington close to the Trump

administration, the sources said. It is unclear if the

administration is itself aware of or interested in the

proposals, and the White House National Security Council did not

respond to a request for comment.

The military base pitch is the latest unconventional plan

advanced by the administration of Ecuadorean President Daniel

Noboa, who is trying to tamp down on crime and strengthen ties

with Trump associates heading into a competitive April election.

On Wednesday, Noboa announced a "strategic alliance" with

Erik Prince - a prominent Trump supporter and founder of

controversial private military firm Blackwater - to take on

crime and narcoterrorism in the country of 17 million.

Noboa, the 37-year-old heir to one of the country's biggest

business fortunes, has publicly argued for bringing foreign

military bases to Ecuador. The Ecuadorean legislature is in the

early stages of a legislative process that could eliminate a

constitutional ban on such facilities instituted in 2008 with

the support of leftist former President Rafael Correa.

The U.S. government had a military base on the

environmentally sensitive Galapagos Islands during World War II

and a separate base used largely to combat narcotics trafficking

on the mainland until 2009, at which point Correa forced

Washington to abandon the outpost.

Several other small and medium-sized nations have been

exploring unconventional ways of building ties with Washington,

some of which appear designed to take advantage of Trump's

transactional foreign policy impulses and willingness to

entertain unconventional policy ideas.

Officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for

instance, have traveled to Washington in recent weeks to pitch

the Trump administration on a critical minerals deal between the

two nations. Officials in El Salvador, governed by conservative

President Nayib Bukele, a prominent Trump ally, have offered to

host criminals deported from the U.S. in Salvadoran jails.

Ecuador's government recently selected Washington-based

Mercury Public Affairs to represent its interests with the Trump

administration, according to a Monday filing with a Justice

Department division that oversees foreign lobbying efforts.

The filing outlining the lobbying contract does not include

any reference to military bases. It does identify "migration,

trade, and security issues, including anti-terrorism efforts" as

potential areas of collaboration.

The Ecuadorean foreign ministry and Mercury Public Affairs

did not respond to requests for comment.

TIGHT ELECTION

Ecuador is heading for a tight April 13 runoff election that

will pit Noboa against leftist Luisa Gonzalez, a protege of

Correa.

Noboa has campaigned on what he says has been a 15% cut in

violent deaths last year, a reduction in prison violence and the

capture of major gang leaders. He has vowed to keep deploying

the military on the streets and in prisons to fight insecurity.

The Noboa administration is also seeking to develop

strategies alongside the State Department's Bureau of

International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs to "fight

narcoterrorism," according to the Monday filing with the Justice

Department.

Gonzalez, 47, has expressed opposition to the presence of

foreign troops in Ecuador while calling for more efforts to

fight the drug trade-related crime that has rocked the country

in recent years. She has pledged to pursue corrupt judges and

prosecutors and roll out a social spending plan in the most

violent areas.

One of the sources familiar with the Ecuadoreans'

interactions with Republican lobbyists said they were likely

asking for too many deliverables in too short a time. The State

Department tends to limit bilateral engagement directly before

elections so as not to appear to be supporting a particular

party, the source noted.

Trump has pledged to fight narcotics trafficking in Latin

America, and he has at times expressed an interest in expanding

U.S. hard power. He has, for instance, threatened to invade

Panama, floated acquiring Greenland and said the U.S. could

effectively take over Gaza.

But his administration's engagement with Latin America has

not always followed an obvious pattern.

He has repeatedly threatened to slap 25% across-the-board

tariffs on Mexico - which partially took effect earlier in March

- amid dissatisfaction with that country's attempts to combat

fentanyl trafficking, while at the same time complimenting

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

His administration has made a deportation deal with

Venezuela, a regional foe, but also declined to renew Chevron's ( CVX )

license to operate there, a move which has further isolated that

nation economically.