MANTA, Ecuador (AP) -- Many Ecuadoreans are uneasy about their country's
                  decision to allow the United States to use an air force base here for anti-drug
                  flights, but you won't hear much opposition in Manta.

                  This Pacific port of 200,000 inhabitants has put out the welcome mat for
                  American servicemen, untroubled by muttering in Quito, the capital, that Ecuador
                  is becoming America's "new Panama."

                  Townspeople are delighted with the prospect of millions of dollars in investment
                  pouring in at a time when Ecuador is trying to dig its way out of its deepest
                  economic crisis in decades.

                  "I can say as mayor of the city that most people have accepted the American
                  presence favorably," Mayor Jorge Zambrano said. "We see that there are greater
                  benefits, more pros than cons, in this agreement between Ecuador and the United
                  States."

                  Manta's inhabitants give little heed to worries by Ecuadoreans elsewhere that this
                  small Andean nation is being set up as a staging ground for U.S. intervention in
                  Colombia, where powerful leftist rebel groups protect the narcotics trade.

                  That worry is very real for many Ecuadoreans.

                  "We support the base being used to fight drug trafficking," Antonio Posso, an
                  influential congressman, said in an interview in Quito, the capital. "But the base
                  apparently is also being used to put together an operation to fight Colombia's
                  guerrillas, which involves us in a conflict that is not Ecuador's."

                  The United States is spending $62 million to expand and improve the Manta
                  runway and build hangars, dormitories and a dining hall. The number of U.S.
                  servicemen assigned to Manta has risen to 125 and that figure will reach 400
                  after construction work is completed in October.

                  At that point, giant U.S. AWACS surveillance planes and tankers to refuel them
                  will replace smaller Navy aircraft now operating, allowing the United States to
                  monitor air and marine activity far into the Caribbean. That will permit full
                  resumption of U.S. anti-drug surveillance flights, which were cut by two-thirds
                  when U.S. forces evacuated Howard Air Force Base in Panama in 1999.

                  The United States maintains the Manta base will remain under Ecuadorean
                  control and is being used only as an observation post to track drug-smuggling
                  aircraft and boats. U.S. officials insist it has nothing to do with the dlrs 1.3
                  billion U.S. aid package for Plan Colombia, that country's counternarcotics
                  offensive.

                  Such reassurances are good enough for most people in Manta, who agree with
                  Zambrano that there are more pros than cons to the U.S. presence.

                  Col. Jose Bohorquez, the Ecuadorean commander of the base, noted that the
                  airport expansion has created 390 new jobs in construction alone.

                  "I really think this is an opportunity for the economy to open up," he said in an
                  interview at the base. "The investment made so far is already being felt here in
                  Manta."

                  Construction companies, computer stores and auto rental agencies are all doing
                  business with the Americans. New restaurants and bars have popped up along
                  the port's seaside avenue -- including one called "Cheers" -- aimed at pulling in
                  the Yankee dollar.

                  "Everyone wants to learn English. English institutes are opening all the time,"
                  Zambrano said. "I know because I have one, and before I didn't have many
                  students. Now there are many institutes and they're filled."

                  The runway undergoing expansion also is shared by Manta's adjoining
                  commercial airport. When construction is completed, the airport will be able to
                  handle international flights, giving a boost to a fledgling tourism industry built
                  around the area's attractive beaches. City officials have begun talks with
                  Continental Airlines about starting direct flights to the United States.

                  Manta already has one new five-star hotel and the Sheraton and Marriott chains
                  are said to be nosing around for good beachfront property.

                  "We have hopes that the economy will recover. Tourism is going to expand with
                  the new airport and generate more jobs," said Irene Trujillo, who manages a
                  restaurant on Manta's main beach.

                  The enlarged airport is expected to propel local exports of tuna, shrimp, coffee
                  and other products since businesses no longer will need to ship via airports in
                  Quito or Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city and commercial center.

                  The U.S. Southern Command, now headquartered in Miami, has donated garbage
                  trucks, water tankers, bulldozers and vehicles and equipment for spraying
                  mosquitos.

                  In their free time American servicemen teach English at local schools, conduct
                  basketball clinics and play in a soccer league. In February a 17-member medical
                  team from Keesler Air Force base in Mississippi arrived to provide free medical
                  and dental care to impoverished villages in the area.

                  It has all produced a warm welcome for U.S. military personnel in Manta.

                  "They've treated us very well," said Lt. Col. Richard Hair, the tall, lanky chief of
                  the U.S. Air Force mission here. "Obviously, they're interested in the economic
                  benefits, but they've been very, very friendly and we've felt a great deal of
                  support from everyone in town."

                  Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.