Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a U.S. foreign terrorist organization designation for Ecuador's Los Tiguerones gang in Quito on Wednesday, hailing Ecuador as the most "aggressive" partner in the U.S. counterdrug push. Quito was the second leg of a three-nation South American tour aimed at boosting security cooperation with conservative leaders who have cozied up to President 
Donald Trump, PBS NewsHour reported. Rubio met Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, who has rapidly embraced the administration's get-tough stance on counternarcotics operations and illegal immigration.
What does the designation involve? Los Tiguerones was among 22 criminal gangs that Ecuador designated as "terrorists" in 2024, after it declared an internal armed conflict during a surge in violence, PBS NewsHour reported. Under the Trump administration's counternarcotics strategy, the designation could make the group a target for military action. Rubio said he would ask Congress for $45 million to keep funding the effort of "dismantling these terrorist groups," though he did not specify what the funds would be for.
How is Ecuador working with the U.S.? Rubio told reporters that "elite forces" from both countries "are working jointly on a day-to-day basis in a way that has no precedent." Ecuador has been helping the U.S. as it intercepts and sinks vessels, including one on Tuesday that Washington said had links to the Ecuadorian criminal group Los Choneros, the sixth such operation in less than two weeks. People aboard floating refueling stations said to support drug trafficking have lately been removed and transferred to Ecuadorian authorities, in what appears to be a shift after strikes on boats over the year killed at least 227 people whom the administration accused of being "narcoterrorists" without providing evidence.
What did Rubio pledge in Peru? Standing next to new Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori in Lima on Thursday, Rubio pledged that the U.S. would not take military action against narcotics traffickers in Latin American countries without the approval of its allies, PBS NewsHour reported. He said working with allies is "the most effective way to do it," but during the trip he also said the military will "still blow up ships if need be." Fujimori had just announced that Peru joined the "Shield of the Americas," a U.S.-led coalition for joint military operations against drug cartels. After Rubio's comments Wednesday, the U.S. military said it killed three people in another strike on a boat in the Caribbean Sea. As he arrived in Lima late Wednesday, hundreds of protesters chanted "Yankees out of Peru."
Figures referenced: Donald Trump. — JudgeMarket.
