QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — The United States is designating two Ecuadorian gangs as foreign terrorist organizations, marking the Trump administration’s latest step to target criminal cartels in Latin America.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio made the announcement Thursday while in Ecuador as part of a trip to Latin America overshadowed by an American military strike against a similarly designated gang, Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua. That attack has raised concerns in the region about what may follow as President Donald Trump’s government pledges to step up military activity to combat drug trafficking and illegal migration.
“This time, we’re not just going to hunt for drug dealers in the little fast boats and say, ‘Let’s try to arrest them,’” Rubio told reporters in Quito, Ecuador’s capital. “No, the president has said he wants to wage war on these groups because they’ve been waging war on us for 30 years and no one has responded.”
The Defense Department said late Thursday that two Venezuelan military aircraft flew near a U.S. Navy vessel in international waters, calling it “a highly provocative move” and warning President Nicolás Maduro’s government against further actions.
Two more g
angs are designated as terrorist groups
Los Lobos and Los Choneros are Ecuadorian gangs blamed for much of the violence that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. The terrorist designation, Rubio said, brings “all sorts of options” for Washington to work in conjunction with the government of Ecuador to crack down on these groups.
That includes the ability to kill them as well as take action against the properties and banking accounts in the U.S. of the group’s members and those with ties to the criminal organizations, Rubio said. He said the label also would help with intelligence sharing.
Los Choneros, Los Lobos and other similar groups are involved in contract killings, extortion operations and the movement and sale of drugs. Authorities have blamed them for the increased violence in the country as they fight over drug-trafficking routes to the Pacific and control of territory, including within prisons, where hundreds of inmates have been killed since 2021.
US strike in the Caribbean takes center stage
The strike has become the focus on Rubio’s trip, which included a stop in Mexico on Wednesday.
U.S. officials say the vessel’s cargo was intended for the U.S. and that the strike…