Rubio says that the US is designating 2 Ecuador gangs as foreign terrorist groups:

The Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, said Thursday that the United States is designating two Ecuadorian gangs as foreign terrorist organizations in the last Trump administration movement against the posters.

The announcement occurred when Rubio traveled to Ecuador to meet with his leaders on a trip to Latin America this week that has been eclipsed by a US military strike against a similar designated gang, Aragua train. The strike has raised concerns in the region about whether the Trump administration will intensify military activity to combat drug trafficking and illegal migration.

The two new designated, the wolves and the choneros, are Ecuadorian gangs guilty for much of the violence that began from the Covid-19 Pandemia. The designation, said Rubio, brings “all kinds of options” so that the United States government works together with the Ecuadorian government to take energetic measures against these groups.

That includes the ability to kill them and take measures against banking properties and accounts in the US. For group members and people with ties with criminal organizations, said Rubio, adding that he would also help with the exchange of intelligence.

Rubio called them “vicious animals, these terrorists.”

Criminal gang violence Continue endless after the recapture in June of the country’s largest drug trafficker, Adolfo Macíaswhich leads the Choneros, after their escape from a maximum security prison in 2024. In July, the Ecuadorian government Extradited macias To the United States, where it faces multiple charges of drug trafficking and firearms.

Last year, the United States classified the Choneros as one of the most violent gangs and affirmed their connection with powerful Mexican drug cartels who threaten Ecuador and the surrounding region.

Earl this year, a lobos leader was arrested at home in the coastal city of Portoviejo. Carlos D, widely known for his alias El Chino, was the second in command of the wolves and “considered a target of high value,” the armed forces said in a statement.

United States last year Declared the wolves Be the largest drug trafficking organization in Ecuador.

“The interdiction does not work”

Rubio’s meetings in Quito follow conversations on Thursday a day before with Mexican leaders who were eclipsed by the US military strike over the alleged Train Drug Corridors in Aragua in the South Caribbean.

The Trump administration states that it went to a Venezuelan drug ship manned by members of the Aragua train. American officials say that the ship’s burden was intended for the United States and that the strike killed 11 people.

Rubio defended the action and offered no more than saying that the boat raised an “immediate threat” for the United States and that Trump chose to “fly” instead of following what had been the standard procedure to stop and address, arrest the crew and take any smuggling on board.

“The interdiction does not work,” Rubio said on Wednesday. “Instead of interconnecting it, according to the president’s orders, we explode it. And it will happen again. Maybe it is happening at this time, I do not know, but the point is that the president of the United States will fight a war against narcorist organizations.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegesh said Wednesday that US military assets will remain in the region, and that More strikes can be presented.

“This is a deadly and it would be for us and will not stop with this strike,” Hegseth told News. “Any other person who treats those waters we know is a designated narcoterrorist will face the same destination.”

The strike received a mixed reaction from leaders in Latin America, where the history of military intervention and diplomacy of the cannon boat is still fresh. Many, like Mexico’s officials, were careful not to directly condemn the attack, but emphasized the importance of protecting national sovereignty and the warning that the expanded military participation of the United States could actually be counterproductive.

The Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Ramón de la Fuente, speaking with the journalists together with Rubio, emphasized the preference of his country for the “non -intervention and peaceful solution of conflicts.”

Ecuador has its own problems with drug trafficking and the Trump administration has also sought as a possible destination to deport non -economic migrants in the United States. American officials have said they would like to ensure an agreement with Ecuador that would have accepted such deportees, but the state of negotiations with Quito was not clear.

The president of Ecuador, Daniel Novoa, thanked Rubio on Thursday for the efforts of the United States to “really eliminate any terrorist threat.” Before his meeting, Rubio had said on social networks that the United States and Ecuador are “aligned as key partners to end illegal immigration and combat transnational crime and terrorism.”

Growing violence from Covid-19 pandemic

The UN World World Drug Report says that several countries in South America, including Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, reported larger cocaine seizures in 2022 than in 2021, but does not give Venezuela the huge role that the White House has in recent months.

“The impact of the increase in cocaine traffic has felt in Ecuador in particular, which has seen a wave of lethal violence in recent years linked to local and transnational crimes groups, especially from Mexico and Balkan countries,” says the report.

Violence has shot in Ecuador since the Covid-19 pandemic, as drug traffickers expanded operations in the country and took advantage of the Banana Industry of the Nation.

The South American country is the largest world exporter of bananas, which sends around 7.2 million tons per year per sea. The traffickers find bananas full containers The perfect vehicle to smuggle your product.

In addition, the posters of Mexico, Colombia and the Balkans have established themselves in Ecuador because it uses the US dollar and has weak laws and institutions, together with a network of ruthless and ruthless gangs that are anxious for work.

Ecuador also gained prominence in world cocaine trade after political changes in Colombia in the last decade. The Coca Bush fields in Colombia have approached the border with Ecuador due to the rupture of criminal groups after the 2016 demobilization of the revolutionary armed forces of the Colombian Rebel Group, better known for its Spanish acronym FARC.

Rubio is also visiting the Andean country to argue against his close ties and dependence on China.

News contributed to this report.

• Drug posters
• Terrorism
• Marco Rubio
• Trump administration
• Sign
• Ecuador