Marco Rubio visits Ecuador to designate Los Tiguerones as terrorists and expand security aid

Bilateral talks and terrorist designation in Quito

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa in Quito on 9 September 2026 to expand bilateral security cooperation and combat transnational crime networks. During the visit at the Carondelet Palace, Noboa presented Rubio with the National Order of Merit in the rank of Grand Cross. Washington formally designated the Ecuadorian gang Los Tiguerones as a foreign terrorist organization, placing the group alongside Los Choneros, Los Lobos, and Chone Killers on the United States sanctions list. Los Tiguerones, led by William Alcivar, alias Willy, carried out the January 2024 armed takeover of the TC Television studio in Guayaquil during a live broadcast.

Rubio described the regional security threat during a press conference following his private discussions with the Ecuadorian president.

We are not talking about a typical mafia, we are talking about terrorists who in many cases have weapons and equipment that resemble a national army.

Security assistance and judicial sanctions

To support Ecuadorian operations, the United States administration announced plans to request 45 million dollars from Congress for anti-narcotics programs, with related assistance proposals reaching 55 million dollars to tackle organized crime and illegal mining. The United States also pledged the transfer of one Coast Guard vessel and the delivery of 12 interceptor patrol boats during 2026 to pursue drug-trafficking vessels along Pacific transit routes. In parallel, the State Department barred seven former Ecuadorian officials from entering the United States, including four former judges accused of taking bribes from criminal groups such as Los Choneros and Mexican cartels. These measures follow a rise in domestic violence, with Ecuador recording 51 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2025 as an estimated 70% of cocaine produced in Colombia and Peru moved through Ecuadorian territory.

Defense of maritime strikes

Rubio used the Quito meetings to defend ongoing United States military strikes against suspected drug vessels in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean. The Pentagon launched Operation Southern Spear in September 2025, resulting in more than 200 deaths in boat strikes as recorded by Southcom and independent tallies. A Caribbean strike on 9 September 2026 killed three people aboard a suspected smuggling craft, while six vessels were sunk in Pacific operations in recent weeks. Human rights organizations and United Nations officials have criticized the strikes as potential extrajudicial killings that violate international maritime law, pointing to an absence of public evidence verifying the cargo of destroyed vessels.

Rubio rejected these criticisms, arguing that direct military engagement is essential to prevent regional collapse.

If you do not confront these groups, they will literally eat these countries up. It is like a cancer that grows until you literally have no state left.

Regional tour across the Andean corridor

The Ecuador stop represents the second leg of a three-day diplomatic tour across South America designed to strengthen conservative political alignments and counter Chinese economic presence. Rubio began the tour on 8 September 2026 in Barranquilla, Colombia, where he signed the Barranquilla Accords with Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella. Those agreements committed United States reconstruction aid following an earthquake on 10 August 2026 that killed 331 people, while Colombia agreed to resume aerial coca fumigation despite existing 12.5% United States import tariffs. Rubio travels next to Peru for scheduled talks with Keiko Fujimori.