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U.S. praises Ecuador for its anti-drug efforts |
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10:56, January 29, 2008 |
The United States highly evaluates Ecuador's fight against drug trafficking amid the reported refusal by Quito to extend an agreement on the U.S. use of an anti-drug base in the Latin American country.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates "acknowledged and congratulated Ecuador's government for its contribution and collaboration in the fight against drug trafficking" during a meeting in Washington with his visiting Ecuadorian counterpart Wellington Sandoval, Ecuador's Foreign Minister said Monday in a statement.
Gates said Ecuador is "a country that does not produce drugs or cultivate feed crops," but "has seized around 65 tons of drugs" for the past two years.
Local media said the two defense chiefs met against the backdrop of the refusal by Quito to extend an expiring agreement to allow U.S. troops to operate an anti-drug base in Manta, a town on Ecuador's Pacific coast.
Ecuador has said it will prevent the entry of foreign troops to its territory from 2009, when the Manta contract runs out.
Source: Xinhua
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