The US military’s Southern Command announced on Tuesday that Ecuadorian and US forces had begun operations against what it claimed were terrorist groups in the South American nation. In a statement on X, the Southern Command stated that the action was intended to combat illegal narcotics trafficking but did not go into further detail. A day prior to the declaration, Ecuador’s president Daniel Noboa declared that the United States was one of the “regional allies” participating in a “new phase” of the country’s fight against drug gangs.
According to Noboa, Ecuador’s massive ports now handle around 70% of the world’s cocaine, making it a profitable place for drug trafficking organizations. The two biggest producers of cocaine in the world, Colombia and Peru, are also its neighbors. The most recent activities take place four months after Ecuadorians voted against permitting the reintroduction of foreign military bases in the nation, shattering US plans to increase its presence in the eastern Pacific.
Noboa, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, who is working to combat organized crime and lower rising levels of violence, was dealt a setback by the referendum outcome. The nation has emerged as one of the major hubs for drug trafficking worldwide in recent years. Francis Donovan, the head of US Southern Command, and Mark Schafer, the head of US Special Operations in Central and South America and the Caribbean, met with Noboa in Quito on Monday.
According to a statement from Noboa’s office, plans for information exchange and operational coordination at seaports and airports were reviewed during the discussion.To combat narco-terrorists who have long terrorized, violently attacked, and corrupted people across the hemisphere, we are acting decisively together,” the US Southern Command announced Tuesday. The declaration was made three months after Washington declared that Air Force soldiers would be temporarily stationed at the former US outpost in the port city of Manta.
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