Rubio Visits Ecuador to Push $45 Million Military Aid: Designates Gang as "Terrorist Organization," Joint Maritime Strikes Continue

US Secretary of State Rubio announced in Quito on the 9th that he will apply to Congress for $45 million in additional security aid and deliver to the Ecuadorian Navy a 110-foot Coast Guard fast boat and five interceptor vessels. This arrangement further embeds Ecuador into the Washington-led "counter-narcotics" security architecture. According to France 24 and Reuters, the $45 million still requires Congressional approval, and whether it will materialize remains uncertain; the US has delivered seven vessels to Ecuador this year.

Rubio also announced the establishment of a $10 million special program targeting illegal gold mining, gang recruitment, and illicit financing. He said Washington is working "increasingly closely" with Ecuadorian President Noboa's government to combat drug trafficking organizations, including conducting joint strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels.

On the same day, Rubio designated the Ecuadorian gang Los Tiguerones as a "foreign terrorist organization," a new designation following two other Ecuadorian gangs last year. The US State Department said the organization is linked to drug trafficking and other illegal activities, and was involved in the 2024 takeover of an Ecuadorian TV station. "These are not ordinary gangs. It's clear they engage in ordinary crime, but they have terrorist capabilities in the region and must be dealt with. They must be dismantled, defeated, and we are committed to doing that," Rubio said at a press conference.

Rubio also announced sanctions on seven former Ecuadorian officials on grounds involving bribery, but the specific identities of those involved and the alleged facts have not been disclosed in public reporting.

A deeper shift is occurring at sea. Rubio acknowledged that US strikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels have transitioned to joint operations with Ecuador, with target decisions made "case by case" and in cooperation with the Ecuadorian side. Facing external criticism, he responded: "Our target is not fishermen, but drug traffickers." Citing Ecuador's defense minister, France 24 reported that last week's actions by the Ecuadorian Navy to intercept and sink multiple vessels resulted from joint investigations with the US to break the drug-trafficking chain.

The US-led "Operation Southern Spear" has destroyed approximately 70 vessels and caused more than 220 deaths over the past year, drawing criticism from human rights organizations and some Latin American leaders for the extrajudicial nature of the killings. The specific composition of these deaths—drug traffickers, civilians, and collateral damage—lacks independent verification.

This year, three attacks on fishing boats in Ecuador's Manabí province have also occurred, bearing the hallmarks of US strikes, but the US has neither claimed nor denied them. One of the vessels went missing, and the crews of the other two were repatriated via El Salvador. Crew members told Reuters in interviews that their boats were struck.

Since taking office in 2023, Noboa has made fighting violence a governing promise, but Ecuador's role as a drug transshipment hub has become increasingly prominent, and rights advocates warn that his heavy-handed approach has only created more chaos. As the $45 million military aid, terrorist organization label, and joint maritime strikes advance in tandem, the unidentified dead in "Operation Southern Spear," the sunk fishing boats, and the three attacks neither claimed nor denied by the US constitute the visible spillover costs of the "counter-narcotics" agenda, borne first and foremost by Latin American fishermen and coastal communities.