Ecuadoran voters roundly rejected the return of US military bases to the country in a referendum Sunday, a major political blow to Trump-friendly President Daniel Noboa.

With three-quarters of the vote counted, about 60 percent of Ecuadorans had voted 'no' to lifting a longstanding ban on foreign bases.

The rejection effectively blocks the US military from returning to an airbase at Manta on the Pacific coast -- once a hub for Washington's anti-drug operations.

It is a serious defeat for Noboa, who has staked his political fortunes on tackling rampant cartel violence and forging an alliance with US President Donald Trump.

The vote came against the backdrop of US military airstrikes against alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, a divisive policy which Noboa has back

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