两名知情的美国官员向《国会山报》透露，随着美国加深与这个南美国家的安全合作，以更广泛地打击该大陆的贩毒集团，五角大楼正在为厄瓜多尔最大城市的一座海军训练设施提供资金。这两名官员因未获授权公开讨论该安排而要求匿名。他们表示，总部位于弗吉尼亚州的承包商Culmen International获得了一份合同，将协助设计和建设位于港口城市瓜亚基尔的该中心，该中心最终将由厄瓜多尔安全部队运营。
The Pentagon is funding a naval training facility in Ecuador’s largest city as the United States deepens its security cooperation with the South American nation in a broader push to combat drug cartels on the continent, two U.S. officials familiar with the efforts told The Hill. Virginia-based contractor Culmen International secured a contract to help design and construct the center in Guayaquil, a port city, that will ultimately be operated by Ecuadorian security forces, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the arrangement.
目前尚不清楚建设需要多长时间、将部署多少美厄两国人员以及将有多少海军舰艇驻扎在那里。负责监管美国在中美洲和南美洲军事行动的美国南方司令部拒绝置评。其中一名美国官员称，该设施的资金来源是“第10条”能力建设计划。他们补充说，一旦设施投入运营，将由厄瓜多尔决定是否允许美军人员驻扎在那里。
It is unclear how long it will take to be built, how many U.S. and Ecuadorian personnel will be deployed there, and how many naval vessels will be present. The U.S. Southern Command (Southcom), which oversees U.S. military operations in Central and South America, declined to comment. The facility is funded through the Title 10 capacity building program, one of the U.S. officials said. Once the facility is operational, it will be up to Ecuador to weigh whether to have U.S. service members there, they added.
战略与国际研究中心（CSIS）美洲项目研究员亨利·齐默尔表示，该项目的资金“可能成为”华盛顿进行监督人士关注的焦点。亨利·齐默尔，战略与国际研究中心（CSIS）美洲项目研究员，在接受《国会山报》采访时表示：“尽管这届政府在为某些项目获取资金方面确实愿意‘灵活变通、不拘一格’。当然，没有比五角大楼战略资本办公室成为今年8月宣布的委内瑞拉石油交易的主要推手更好的例子了。”五角大楼未回应《国会山报》关于该设施的置评请求。
Henry Ziemer, a fellow with the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said funding for the project “may be a point of interest” for those conducting oversight in Washington. “Though this administration has definitely been willing to play fast and loose with how it gets funding for certain projects,” Henry Ziemer, a fellow with the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said in an interview with The Hill. “Of course, no better example being the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital being kind of the primary mover and shaker with the Venezuelan oil deal that was announced this August.”The Pentagon did not respond to The Hill’s request for comment about the facility.
新海军设施的建设正值五角大楼继续在该大陆实施其针对毒品贩运集团的多正面战争，以及特朗普政府推动各国与美军在联合反毒品走私行动中合作之际。参与正在进行的行动的美方人员被授予轮换使用厄瓜多尔基地的权限。美军一直在加勒比海和东太平洋摧毁涉嫌贩毒船只，在袭击中击毙数十名疑似贩毒者，这些行动招致一些战争法专家和国会民主党人的抨击。
The new naval facility comes as the Pentagon continues to execute its multifront war against drug cartels on the continent and the Trump administration pushes countries to partner with U.S. forces in joint operations against narco-traffickers. U.S. personnel involved in the ongoing operations are given rotational access to Ecuadorian bases. The U.S. military has been wiping out alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, killing scores of suspected traffickers in attacks that have received pushback from some law-of-war experts and congressional Democrats.
美军还在厄瓜多尔海岸外拦截了更大的补给船并将其摧毁。美方人员还开始与厄瓜多尔部队一起深入一线，参与针对涉嫌贩毒者的突袭行动。
The U.S. forces have also interdicted bigger refueling vessels off the coast of Ecuador before destroying them. U.S. personnel have also begun embedding on the ground with Ecuadorian forces in raids against alleged drug traffickers.
去年11月，超过三分之二的厄瓜多尔人在公投中否决了在该国境内设立外国军事基地的提案，这对总统丹尼尔·诺沃亚构成了挫折。作为特朗普总统的盟友，诺沃亚将打击有组织犯罪作为重点，并欢迎与美国深化国防伙伴关系。“我认为这对于美国与伙伴国的安全合作来说，不一定算得上不同寻常，”齐默说。“当然，这里最大的新闻还是更广泛的美厄安全关系，特别是基地问题。”
Last November, over two-thirds of Ecuadorians rejected the proposal to host foreign military bases inside the country, a setback for President Daniel Noboa, an ally of President Trump, who has focused on fighting organized crime and welcomed expanded defense partnership with the U.S. “I think this doesn't necessarily strike me as unusual for U.S. security cooperation with a partner nation,” Ziemer said. “The biggest kind of story in this though, is of course the broader U.S.-Ecuador security relationship, and in particular the question of bases.”In the past, the U.S. government did include some facility construction in its aid to Latin America, with contributions toward radar sites, hardened police stations and improvements to airstrips.
过去，美国政府在对拉美援助中确实包含一些设施建设，包括为雷达站点、加固警察局和改善跑道提供资助。据地区专家称，新设施是美国深化与厄瓜多尔安全关系的另一个迹象，五角大楼最近已向该国部署了MQ-9“死神”无人机。最近，美国政府还将来自欧洲和中东盟友的5200万美元“对外军事融资”分配给包括厄瓜多尔在内的四个拉美国家。
The new facility is another sign of the U.S. deepening its security ties with Ecuador, where the Pentagon has recently sent MQ-9 Reaper drones, according to regional experts. Recently, the U.S. government also programmed $52 million in Foreign Military Financing from European and Middle Eastern allies to four Latin American countries, including Ecuador.
齐默表示，与该设施最接近的类似案例，是美国国务院今年1月批准向秘鲁潜在出售15亿美元的装备和服务，以帮助扩建和现代化卡亚俄港，该港也是秘鲁的主要海军港口。本月早些时候，卡尔门国际在Facebook、Instagram和LinkedIn上分享了一则帖子，称其“自豪地支持”南方司令部的“禁毒任务”，并承建了该设施。
The closest analog to the facility, Ziemer said, was the State Department approving a potential sale of $1.5 billion in equipment and services to Peru in January to help expand and modernize the port of Callao, which is also the country's main naval port. Earlier this month, Culmen International shared a post on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn stating it was “proud to support” Southcom’s “counterdrug mission” with the construction of the facility.
《国会山报》于10月16日联系该承包商请求置评。数日后，这些平台上关于该设施的帖子被删除。卡尔门国际本周未回应《国会山报》的置评请求。其中一名消息人士称，南方司令部不会运营该设施。但他们补充说，该设施“与美国伙伴的目标相一致”。
The Hill reached out to the contractor to comment on Oct. 16. Days later, the post about the facility on those platforms were taken down. Culmen International did not respond to The Hill’s request for comment this week. Southcom will not run the facility, one of the sources said. But the facility is “aligned with the U.S. partner objectives,” they added.