Voters in Ecuador have rejected a proposal to allow the return of foreign military bases, according to early referendum results, with a count of close to 90 percent of ballots showing nearly two-thirds voting “no” on the proposal.

The loss on Sunday was a blow to President Daniel Noboa, who has said foreign cooperation, including shared or foreign bases within the country, is central to fighting organised crime.

A separate measure to convene an assembly to rewrite the constitution also had more than 61 percent rejection, with nearly 88 percent of votes counted.

Noboa acknowledged the defeat in a post on X.

“We respect the will of the Ecuadorian people,” he wrote.

“Our commitment does not change; it strengthens. We will continue to fight tirelessly for the country that you deserve, with the tools that we have.”

The rejection blocks the United States military from returning to an airbase at Manta on the Pacific coast – once a hub for Washington’s anti-drug operations.

Ecuador banned foreign military bases on its soil in 2008.

In Sunday’s referendum, voters were also asked if Ecuador should cut public funding for political parties, and if the number of legislators in the nation’s congress – the National Assembly – should be reduced from 151 representatives to 73.

The early count showed those proposals failing by a large margin, too.

Unprecedented violence

The referendum is taking place amid unprecedented violence in Ecuador, which has become a key transit point for cocaine produced in neighbouring Colombia and Peru. Drug trafficking gangs have attacked presidential candidates, mayors and journalists, as they fight for control over ports and coastal cities.

The vote also comes as the US military conducts a series of air strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats, a divisive policy from President Donald Trump that Noboa has backed.

Alessandro Rampietti, reporting from the Ecuadorian capital, Quito, said many voters had expressed concerns over sovereignty if foreign militaries return.

“The main issue here is the sovereignty and the fact that this country has had experience of having military bases in the past. And there have been allegations of many abuses committed by the US soldiers when they were in the country, including the sinking of fishermen’s boats, and also an increase in prostitution in the towns near the bases, as well as mistreatment of locals by these soldiers, who had immunity,” Rampietti said.

“So, it seems like a majority of people say no. They are saying we can do it with our police and our army. And that the problem is the corruption, the problem is that the laws in the country are not implemented.”

For its part, the US has praised Noboa as an “excellent partner” in efforts to curb illegal immigration and drug trafficking, and Ecuadorean authorities said prior to the referendum that a “no” vote on the military bases question would not derail security plans.

Noboa ratified two agreements for joint military operations with the US last year. The countries also maintain an aerial interception agreement, enabling drug and weapons seizures at sea.

US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also recently toured military facilities in Manta and an airbase in Salinas alongside Noboa.

‘Erosion’ of Noboa’s governance

Some voters may have also voted against the measures because of anger over Noboa’s recent cancellation of a popular diesel subsidy, which led to protests in some areas, according to analysts.

The result could weaken Noboa, said political analyst Cristian Carpio.

“It was an erosion of his governance … because of the diesel issue, the protests and disinformation,” Carpio told the Reuters news agency.

He added that voters may also feel fatigued after two recent presidential elections and other referendum votes.

In office since November 2023, Noboa has deployed soldiers on the streets and in prisons, launched dramatic raids on drug strongholds, and declared frequent states of emergency.

Still, in the first half of this year, there were 4,619 murders – the “highest in recent history”, according to Ecuador’s Organized Crime Observatory.

Just as voting began, Noboa announced that the leader of the country’s most notorious gang, Los Lobos, had been captured.

The most-wanted drug kingpin known as “Pipo” had “faked his death, changed his identity and hid in Europe”, Noboa said on X.

Interior Minister John Reimberg later said Pipo had been detained in Spain in a joint operation between Ecuadoran and Spanish police.