QUITO, Ecuador (AP) \u2014 U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that the United States is designating two Ecuadorian gangs as foreign terrorist organizations in the Trump administration\u2019s latest move against cartels.<\/p>\n
The announcement came as Rubio traveled to Ecuador to meet with its leaders in a trip to Latin America this week that has been overshadowed by a U.S. military strike against a similarly designated gang, Tren de Aragua, that has raised concerns in the region about whether the Trump administration will step up military activity to combat drug trafficking<\/a> and illegal migration.<\/p>\n The two new designees, Los Lobos and Los Choneros, are Ecuadorian gangs blamed for much of the violence that began since the COVID-19 pandemic. The designation, Rubio said, brings \u201call sorts of options\u201d for the U.S. government to work in conjunction with the government of Ecuador to crack down on these groups.<\/p>\n That includes the ability to kill them as well as take action against the properties and banking accounts in the U.S. for the group\u2019s members and people with ties to the criminal organizations, Rubio said, adding it would also help with intelligence sharing.<\/p>\n Rubio called them \u201cthese vicious animals, these terrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis time we\u2019re not just going to hunt for drug dealers in the little fast boats and say \u2018let\u2019s try to arrest them,\u2019\u201d Rubio said at a news conference in Ecuador\u2019s capital, Quito. \u201cNo, the president has said he wants to wage war on these groups because they\u2019ve been waging war on us for 30 years and no one has responded.\u201d<\/p>\n Rubio\u2019s meetings in Quito on Thursday followed talks a day earlier with Mexican leaders<\/a> that were overshadowed by the U.S. military strike on suspected Tren de Aragua<\/a> drug runners in the southern Caribbean. <\/p>\n The Trump administration asserts that it targeted a Venezuelan drug-running ship crewed by members of Tren de Aragua<\/a>. U.S. officials say the vessel\u2019s cargo was intended for the United States and that the strike killed 11 people.<\/p>\n U.S. officials have yet to explain<\/a> how the military determined that those aboard the vessel were Tren de Aragua members. <\/p>\n Rubio on Wednesday defended the action and offered no justification other than to say the boat posed an \u201cimmediate threat\u201d to the U.S. and that Trump opted to \u201cblow it up\u201d rather than follow what had been standard procedure to stop and board, arrest the crew and seize any contraband on board.<\/p>\n The strike got a mixed reaction<\/a> from leaders around Latin America, where the U.S. history of military intervention and gunboat diplomacy is still fresh. Many, like officials in Mexico, were careful not to outright condemn the attack but stressed the importance of protecting national sovereignty and warning that expanded U.S. military involvement might actually backfire.<\/p>\n Mexico Foreign Affairs Secretary Ram\u00f3n de la Fuente, speaking to reporters alongside Rubio, emphasized his country\u2019s preference for \u201cnonintervention, peaceful solution of conflicts.\u201d <\/p>\n Rubio on Thursday contested that U.S. actions were being directed more toward Venezuela, and not Mexico, because of its adversarial relation with the South American country.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no need to do that in many cases with friendly governments, because the friendly governments are going to help us,\u201d Rubio told reporters. \u201cThey may do it themselves, and we\u2019ll help them do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Ecuador has its own issues with narcotics trafficking and also has been looked to by the Trump administration as a possible destination to deport<\/a> non-Ecuadorian migrants from the United States. U.S. officials have said they would like to secure an agreement with Ecuador that would have it accept such deportees, but the status of negotiations with Quito was not clear.<\/p>\n Ecuador\u2019s president, Daniel Noboa<\/a>, on Thursday thanked Rubio for the U.S. efforts to \u201cactually eliminate any terrorist threat.\u201d Before their meeting, Rubio had said on social media that the U.S. and Ecuador are \u201caligned as key partners on ending illegal immigration and combatting transnational crime and terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n The latest U.N. World Drug Report says various countries in South America, including Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, reported larger cocaine seizures in 2022 than in 2021, but it does not give Venezuela the outsize role that the White House has in recent months.<\/p>\n \u201cThe impact of increased cocaine trafficking has been felt in Ecuador in particular, which has seen a wave of lethal violence in recent years linked to both local and transnational crime groups, most notably from Mexico and the Balkan countries,\u201d the report says.<\/p>\n Violence has skyrocketed in Ecuador since the COVID-19 pandemic, as drug traffickers expanded operations in the country and took advantage of the nation\u2019s banana industry<\/a>.<\/p>\n The South American country is the world\u2019s largest exporter of bananas. Traffickers find maritime shipping containers filled with the fruit the perfect vehicle to smuggle their product.<\/p>\n In addition, cartels from Mexico, Colombia and the Balkans have settled in Ecuador because it uses the U.S. dollar and has weak laws and institutions, along with a network of long-established, ruthless gangs, including Los Choneros and Los Lobos, that are eager for work.<\/p>\n