QUITO — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Ecuador on Wednesday as part of a three-nation South American tour focused on security cooperation with conservative governments aligned with President Donald Trump.
The visit centered on deepening joint counterdrug enforcement efforts in the region. Ecuador has emerged as a key security partner for Washington under President Daniel Noboa, who has aligned his government with the Trump administration's hard-line stance on counternarcotics operations and illegal immigration.
During talks with President Noboa, Rubio was awarded Ecuador's National Order of Merit in the degree of Grand Cross, the country's second-highest national recognition. "When we see threats to our security, we have to work and your president is doing so in an incredible way," Rubio said.
The visit coincided with a notable change in U.S. maritime operations against drug trafficking in Latin American waters. Since September 2025, U.S. forces conducted lethal strikes on alleged smuggling boats. In recent operations targeting floating refueling stations suspected of supporting drug trafficking, however, crews have been removed and transferred to Ecuadorian authorities rather than being struck.
On Tuesday, U.S. forces intercepted and sank a vessel Washington linked to Los Choneros, an Ecuadorian criminal group. This operation marked the sixth of its kind in less than two weeks and the second in as many days.
The Trump administration has accused individuals killed in earlier strikes of being "narcoterrorists," without providing evidence. Those prior operations resulted in the deaths of at least 227 people over the past year. The U.S. military carried out at least two such deadly strikes last month.
Washington has also expanded its efforts by formally designating the criminal gang Los Tiguerones as an alleged foreign terrorist organization, targeting organized crime as part of the broader campaign against drug trafficking across Latin America.
Ecuador has faced escalating drug violence since 2021. Rival cartels have formed alliances with local gangs, competing for control of smuggling routes and coastal ports used to transport cocaine. The country's geographical position between Colombia and Peru — the world's leading cocaine-producing nations — has made its ports and coastline critical logistics corridors for the global cocaine trade.
