US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that Washington would seek $45 million in additional security funding for Ecuador and provide military equipment as the two countries deepen cooperation against drug trafficking. During a visit to Quito, Rubio also announced new sanctions on former Ecuadorian officials involved in bribery and a terrorist designation for an Ecuador-based gang.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a visit to Ecuador on Wednesday that he would seek $45 million in additional security funding for the Latin American country, as well as additional equipment, to help tackle drug trafficking.
Rubio met with Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa during a swing through three Latin American countries with leaders closely aligned with US President Donald Trump and his administration's effort to reassert US dominance in the region.
Speaking after their meeting, Rubio said Washington was increasingly working with Noboa's government to crack down on drug trafficking organisations, including with joint strikes on boats believed to be used by drug smugglers.
"These are not ordinary groups. Clearly, they engage in common crime, but they have terrorist capabilities across the region, and that must be confronted. They must be dismantled, they must be defeated, and we are committed to doing that," Rubio said.
Rubio on Wednesday designated the Ecuador-based gang Los Tiguerones as a foreign terrorist organisation, after similar designations were made against two other Ecuador-based gangs last year. The State Department said the group was linked to narcotrafficking and other illicit activity, including the live takeover of an Ecuadorian TV station in 2024.
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Rubio said the US would also be imposing sanctions on seven former Ecuadorian officials involved in bribery.
The Trump administration would ask Congress for $45 million to fund new commitments for Ecuador, as well as a $10 million initiative targeting illegal gold mining, gang recruitment and illicit finance, Rubio said.
He said the US would deliver a 110-foot Coast Guard cutter and five interceptor vessels for the country's navy, in addition to seven already delivered to Ecuador this year for the fight against maritime drug trafficking.
Noboa took office in 2023 vowing a crackdown on violence stemming from Ecuador's increasing role as a drug transit hub, but rights advocates have raised concerns the heavy-handed approach has only created more chaos.
Boat strikes
Rubio, speaking to reporters in Quito, acknowledged that the US campaign to strike suspected drug trafficking boats had shifted to joint strikes with Ecuador, and said decisions on targeting were made on a "strike-by-strike" basis and with the cooperation of Ecuador.
"Our goal is not to go after fishermen. Our goal is to go after drug traffickers," he said in response to questions about criticism over the campaign.
Ecuador's defence minister last week also defended several recent operations where Ecuadorian vessels were intercepted and sunk, saying they were the product of joint investigations to disrupt drug trafficking.
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The sinkings are the latest in a broader US military campaign known as Operation Southern Spear, which has destroyed some 70 vessels and killed more than 220 people over the past year, drawing criticism from human rights groups and some Latin American leaders who call the strikes extrajudicial killings.
Though the US government has claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks as part of Southern Spear, it has not claimed three others this year which bear the hallmarks of US strikes, involving fishing vessels from Ecuador's Manabi province.
In those incidents crew members, including some interviewed by Reuters, say their vessels were hit with strikes. One boat disappeared, the crews of the other two were repatriated via El Salvador.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)
