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QUITO, Ecuador — The U.S. military must stop using its only outpost in South America for anti-drug flights when Washington’s 10-year lease on the base in Ecuador expires next year, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. President Rafael Correa has repeatedly said that Ecuador would not renew the agreement to use the Manta air base, but Tuesday’s statement said Ecuador has now formally notified the U.S. Embassy of the decision. About 300 U.S. soldiers are stationed at the Pacific base, and flights from Manta are responsible for about 60 percent of U.S. drug interdiction in the eastern Pacific.
