Installation and removal of the U.S. military base in Manta and its influence on public perception of Ecuador

Abstract

This article analyzes from the theory of international relations, the foreign policy of installation and withdrawal of the U.S. military base of Manta and its influence on the public perception of Ecuador. It begins by explaining state sovereignty as a key element of international relations associated with the installation and withdrawal of the aforementioned base; and then describes the public opinion derived from the signing of the cooperation agreement between Ecuador and the United States on the installation and withdrawal of the Manta military base. This is a basic research with a qualitative approach, based on the review of bibliographic documents and data provided by the media. To obtain information on public opinion, an unstructured interview was conducted with experts in international relations, politics and economics, as well as professionals in social communication. The results show that the motivation of the united States by installing military bases in south american countries was, initially, global security, bilateral support, the fight against terrorism, and the control of the drug trade, however, the public opinion of generalized points to the fact that the establishment of military bases is related to other selfish interests such as access to natural resources; in addition to that, according to your perception, leads to human rights violations and loss of sovereignty.