US announces $45m in security funding, additional naval vessels for Ecuador
The US will seek $45 million in security assistance for Ecuador and will provide a coast guard cutter plus five interceptor vessels, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in Quito. Rubio also announced a separate $10 million initiative to fight illegal gold mining, gang recruitment and drug trafficking, and designated the Ecuador-based group Los Tiguerones as a "foreign terrorist organisation."
Why It Matters
The package deepens security cooperation between Washington and President Daniel Noboa’s government at a time when both countries are intensifying anti-narcotics operations across the region. That cooperation comes amid wider US actions — including lethal maritime strikes — that have prompted accusations of human rights violations from families and legal experts.
Key Facts
- Security funding sought: $45 million announced by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
- Additional initiative: $10 million to tackle illegal gold mining, gang recruitment and drug trafficking
- Vessels provided: One coast guard cutter and five interceptor vessels, building on seven vessels delivered earlier this year
- Designation: Los Tiguerones named a "foreign terrorist organisation" for alleged narcotics trafficking and involvement in a 2024 violent takeover of a TV station
- Trip context: Rubio's visit to Ecuador is part of a three-day, three-country South America trip (already visited Colombia; next stop Peru)
The Biden administration will ask Congress for $45 million in security assistance for Ecuador, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a visit to Quito on Wednesday. Rubio said the US would also launch a separate $10 million program aimed at curbing illegal gold mining, stopping gang recruitment and disrupting drug-trafficking activity.
Rubio announced material support for Ecuador’s maritime forces: the transfer of a coast guard cutter and five interceptor vessels. Those deliveries expand on seven vessels the US provided earlier in the year to bolster Ecuador’s navy and coastal interdiction capacity.
During the Quito visit Rubio designated Los Tiguerones, an Ecuador-based trafficking ring, as a "foreign terrorist organisation," accusing it of narcotics trafficking and linking it to a violent takeover of a television station in 2024. He framed the designation as part of a broader regional push in which Washington has labelled multiple criminal groups as terrorist organisations and increased joint operations; US forces recently intercepted a vessel said to be tied to Los Choneros and handed suspects to Ecuadorian authorities, the sixth such operation in under two weeks.
The security partnership comes as Ecuador under President Daniel Noboa has taken a harder line on crime since 2023. Noboa — the youngest president in the country’s recent history, first elected after a government dissolution in 2023 — has deployed thousands of military personnel and police to violence-affected areas and described the fight with traffickers in terms of a "state of war." That approach aligns with the Trump administration’s security posture, which has conducted dozens of lethal maritime strikes in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific since September 2, 2025; US strikes have been linked to more than 220 deaths and have drawn allegations from families and legal experts that some attacks amounted to extrajudicial killings. Rubio defended the maritime campaign as focused on drug traffickers rather than ordinary fishermen.
Keep Reading
Guterres pays tribute to Qatar’s late Father Emir at UN ceremony
Trump says Iran war ‘will end immediately’ after US midterm elections
Liverpool come back to beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 in Champions League opener
