Ecuador National Security
Military chief clutching a club (Bahía culture)
ALTHOUGH MODEST IN SIZE AND operational capacity, the Ecuadorian
armed forces (Fuerzas Armadas--FF.AA.), have been sufficient to
deal with the nation's limited external and domestic security
concerns. The only outside hostilities Ecuador has experienced have
been with Peru in 1941 and 1981, when the two nations engaged in
brief encounters over disputed claims in the Amazon River Basin. On
both occasions, the Ecuadorian army proved little match for the
larger and better equipped Peruvian forces. As of 1989, the distant
prospect of some renewed confrontation with Peru remained the
primary justification for the purchase of modern military
armaments. In the late 1980s, organized domestic terrorism was not
the challenge in Ecuador that it was in neighboring Peru and
Colombia. The security of the northern frontier area against drug
traffickers and insurgent groups originating in Colombia was,
however, a continuing problem.
The president of the republic functioned as commander in chief
of the armed forces. The National Security Council (NSC) and the
Joint Command, the chief of which was the senior military officer,
advised the president on defense issues. A ranking military
officer, either active or retired, customarily held the position of
minister of national defense. The army, the dominant branch of the
military with about 40,000 troops, included five infantry brigades,
two jungle brigades, an armored brigade, and a special forces
brigade. The navy, with two submarines and a number of
missile-armed surface vessels, was capable of protecting
territorial waters and communications with the Galápagos Islands.
Analysts regarded the air force's three squadrons of modern fighter
planes as effective in both air defense and ground support roles.
The military employed a conscription system requiring young men
to serve for one year at the age of nineteen. Those able to meet
stringent requirements could remain as career personnel. Officers
entered by way of one of the three military academies. Advancement
was based on merit, coupled with successful performance in service
schools at various levels.
In the early years of Ecuadorian independence, individual
military leaders frequently dominated the political system. The
political involvement of the military institution, however, was a
phenomenon of the twentieth century. Although the armed forces
assumed power only three times--in 1925, 1963, and 1972--those were
extended periods and the military's influence and interests loomed
continuously over the political scene. In 1979, following seven
years of reformist military rule that was only partially successful
in bringing about economic modernization, the armed forces oversaw
the enactment of a new constitution and voluntarily returned to the
barracks. During the 1970s, however, the armed forces had nearly
doubled in size, and defense spending rose accordingly. Acquiring
its own business enterprises and profiting from the oil bonanza,
the military assembled a considerable inventory of modern weapons,
including armored vehicles, combat aircraft, and naval units. The
country's mounting economic crisis and the sharp drop in oil
revenues in the 1980s, on the other hand, brought an abrupt halt to
the equipment modernization efforts.
Although not in sympathy with most of the civilian governments
of the 1980s, the armed forces refrained from intervention. Indeed,
the other service chiefs considered the revolt by the air force
commander in 1986 as damaging to internal discipline and order and
did not support him. In spite of the blow to the prestige and unity
of the armed forces caused by this episode and the subsequent brief
kidnapping of the president by air force commandos, cooperative
civil-military relations remained an important ingredient in
Ecuadorian political life.
Data as of 1989
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