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Ecuadoreans privately float U.S. military base for South American country

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Daniel Noboa, Ecuador's incumbent, heading for tight April election

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Ecuador also pushing for free trade deal with U.S.

By Gram Slattery and Alexandra Valencia

WASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) - Ecuadorean officials have told allies of U.S. President Donald Trump that they are interested in hosting a U.S. military base in the South American country, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

The officials also said they were interested in inking a free trade deal with the United States, which has eluded the Andean nation, even as neighboring Colombia and Peru have had bilateral accords with the U.S. for over a decade, said the sources, who requested anonymity to describe private conversations.

The expressions of interest were delivered in recent weeks to Republican lobbyists in Washington close to the Trump administration, the sources said. It is unclear if the administration is itself aware of or interested in the proposals, and the White House National Security Council did not respond to a request for comment.

The military base pitch is the latest unconventional plan advanced by the administration of Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa, who is trying to tamp down on crime and strengthen ties with Trump associates heading into a competitive April election.

On Wednesday, Noboa announced a "strategic alliance" with Erik Prince - a prominent Trump supporter and founder of controversial private military firm Blackwater - to take on crime and narcoterrorism in the country of 17 million.

Noboa, the 37-year-old heir to one of the country's biggest business fortunes, has publicly argued for bringing foreign military bases to Ecuador. The Ecuadorean legislature is in the early stages of a legislative process that could eliminate a constitutional ban on such facilities instituted in 2008 with the support of leftist former President Rafael Correa.

The U.S. government had a military base on the environmentally sensitive Galapagos Islands during World War II and a separate base used largely to combat narcotics trafficking on the mainland until 2009, at which point Correa forced Washington to abandon the outpost.

Several other small and medium-sized nations have been exploring unconventional ways of building ties with Washington, some of which appear designed to take advantage of Trump's transactional foreign policy impulses and willingness to entertain unconventional policy ideas.

Officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for instance, have traveled to Washington in recent weeks to pitch the Trump administration on a critical minerals deal between the two nations. Officials in El Salvador, governed by conservative President Nayib Bukele, a prominent Trump ally, have offered to host criminals deported from the U.S. in Salvadoran jails.

Ecuador's government recently selected Washington-based Mercury Public Affairs to represent its interests with the Trump administration, according to a Monday filing with a Justice Department division that oversees foreign lobbying efforts.

The filing outlining the lobbying contract does not include any reference to military bases. It does identify "migration, trade, and security issues, including anti-terrorism efforts" as potential areas of collaboration.

The Ecuadorean foreign ministry and Mercury Public Affairs did not respond to requests for comment.

TIGHT ELECTION

Ecuador is heading for a tight April 13 runoff election that will pit Noboa against leftist Luisa Gonzalez, a protege of Correa.

Noboa has campaigned on what he says has been a 15% cut in violent deaths last year, a reduction in prison violence and the capture of major gang leaders. He has vowed to keep deploying the military on the streets and in prisons to fight insecurity.

The Noboa administration is also seeking to develop strategies alongside the State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs to "fight narcoterrorism," according to the Monday filing with the Justice Department.

Gonzalez, 47, has expressed opposition to the presence of foreign troops in Ecuador while calling for more efforts to fight the drug trade-related crime that has rocked the country in recent years. She has pledged to pursue corrupt judges and prosecutors and roll out a social spending plan in the most violent areas.

One of the sources familiar with the Ecuadoreans' interactions with Republican lobbyists said they were likely asking for too many deliverables in too short a time. The State Department tends to limit bilateral engagement directly before elections so as not to appear to be supporting a particular party, the source noted.

Trump has pledged to fight narcotics trafficking in Latin America, and he has at times expressed an interest in expanding U.S. hard power. He has, for instance, threatened to invade Panama, floated acquiring Greenland and said the U.S. could effectively take over Gaza.

But his administration's engagement with Latin America has not always followed an obvious pattern.

He has repeatedly threatened to slap 25% across-the-board tariffs on Mexico - which partially took effect earlier in March - amid dissatisfaction with that country's attempts to combat fentanyl trafficking, while at the same time complimenting Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

His administration has made a deportation deal with Venezuela, a regional foe, but also declined to renew Chevron's ( CVX ) license to operate there, a move which has further isolated that nation economically. (Reporting by Gram Slattery in Washington and Alexandra Valencia in Quito; Editing by Christian Plumb and Diane Craft)