QUITO, Ecuador, April 3 (UPI) -- Lawmakers in Ecuador approved a change to the country's constitution that would forbid foreign military bases on its soil, government officials said.
The change must now face a popular vote to be ratified into law, El Comercio newspaper reported Wednesday.
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The United States has a small military operation in the Ecuadorian town of Manta, from where it conducts drug eradication operations in conjunction with Ecuadorian military.
However, the lease for the base is set to expire next year.
Even before the proposed constitutional amendment making the base illegal, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa suggested last year that the lease for the base would not be renewed.
