QUITO / LIMA — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended lethal U.S. strikes on suspected drug boats during a Wednesday visit to Ecuador, warning that cartels would “eat these countries alive” if left unchecked, AFP reported via RFI.
After talks with President Daniel Noboa in Quito, Rubio said operations would continue and that Washington was finding partners willing to be “very aggressive” against criminal groups. Pentagon figures cited by AFP put deaths from the Caribbean and eastern Pacific campaign above 200. Rubio designated the Ecuadoran gang Los Tiguerones a terrorist organization and announced sanctions on seven former Ecuadoran officials.
Asked whether vessels would keep being destroyed, Rubio said decisions depend on threat, location and local law: “Well again, it depends, and we still blow up ships.” Later Wednesday, U.S. Southern Command said American forces killed three “narco-terrorists” in a Caribbean go-fast strike.
Rubio then flew to Lima for meetings with President Keiko Fujimori on the final stop of his South America tour, expected to advance the Shield of the Americas security partnership. Dozens of left-wing protesters gathered at Plaza San Martín against the visit and Peru’s participation in that initiative, EFE and France 24 reported, with slogans including “Out, Marco Rubio” and “Yankees out of Latin America.”
Sources: RFI / AFP, France 24, EFE via Infobae
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