United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has designated two more Latin American cartels “foreign terrorist organistations” during a visit to Ecuador.
The announcement on Thursday came after Rubio, the top US diplomat, met Ecuadorian President Daniel Naboa in Quito.
Speaking at a news conference afterwards with Ecuador’s foreign minister, Rubio described the designations as part of a “war” US President Donald Trump has begun to wage against Latin American cartels.
“Frankly, it’s a war. It’s a war on killers. It’s a war on terror,” Rubio said.
The targets of the new US “terrorism” designations were two Ecuador-based gangs, Los Lobos and Los Choneros, both of which have been involved in the illicit drug trade.
But Rubio said the gangs were responsible for more than trafficking, highlighting their records of violence. “These are not narco traffickers. These are narco terrorists who terrorise the countries they operate in.”
Rubio’s aggressive rhetoric underscores a pivot under President Trump, towards framing organised crime in Latin America as “terrorism”.
Experts, however, have pointed out that Trump used that logic to justify a military attack on Tuesday against a boat travelling from Venezuela. The bombing resulted in the extrajudicial killing of 11 people, allegedly members of the Tren de Aragua gang.
During his stop in Ecuador, Rubio did not respond to a question about whether the administration would seek congressional approval in future for such strikes, which many experts believe to be illegal under international law.
Rubio, however, said he did not expect that the US would conduct such strikes against groups based in “cooperating countries”.
“There’s no need, because those governments are going to help us identify” alleged gang members, Rubio told the press. “They’re going to help us find these people and blow them up. If that’s what it takes.”
He contrasted those countries with Venezuela under President Nicolas Maduro, whose government he described as a “terrorist organisation, an organised crime organisation”.
For its part, the label of “foreign terrorist organisation” does not, in itself, grant expanded authority for the US president to conduct unilateral military strikes on designated groups.
It does, Rubio explained, allow the US to “go against the assets, properties and monies of any individual in the US or in the US banking system related to these groups”. It also boosts intelligence-sharing capabilities with foreign governments, he said.
While in Ecuador, Rubio and his counterpart, Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld, also unveiled agreements to increase security funding for the South American country, boost cooperation on migration and progress towards a free trade agreement.
The new security commitments include $13m in general security funding for Ecuador and $6m for drones for the Ecuadorian Navy.
Rubio said he would also consider re-establishing a military base in Ecuador, a prospect that Noboa has voiced support for. But it would require approval through a national referendum.
Reporting from Santiago, Chile, Al Jazeera’s Latin America editor Lucia Newman explained Rubio’s visit underscored that both Ecuador and the US “are really on the same page when it comes to fighting drug trafficking and organised crime”.
“So a very successful visit from the point of view of both countries,” she said.
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