Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa: The ‘Time has Run Out’ for the “Mafias” of America

2026-03-08 - 13:17

The United States has become a key partner for Ecuador in the “war” that President Noboa declared in early 2024 against criminal gangs, which he labeled “terrorists.” Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared on Saturday that “time is up” for the “mafias (who) believed America was their territory,” during a summit in Miami convened by his US counterpart, Donald Trump, and attended by other right-wing leaders from the region. “For too long, the mafias believed America was their territory. That they could cross borders, move drugs, weapons, and violence without consequences. That time is up,” the president wrote on his Twitter account. Noboa attached photos to his brief statement, along with pictures of the presidents who attended the summit, dubbed “Shield of the Americas ,” and one showing the US president displaying a signed executive order formalizing the new “military coalition” in Latin America against drug cartels, which he announced on Saturday. The Ecuadorian president had indicated weeks earlier that he would attend the meeting for “security reasons,” as he asserted that the country needs “international assistance to ensure the safety of Ecuadorians.” This same week, the United States and Ecuador launched joint military operations on Ecuadorian soil against “terrorist” organizations. As was revealed on Friday, they bombed and destroyed a training camp belonging to the Border Commandos, one of the dissident criminal groups of the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas. The operation took place in the Amazonian province of Sucumbíos, bordering Colombia, where Ecuadorian military forces, acting on intelligence and with U.S. support, attacked a Border Commandos rest camp. According to official information, the camp belonged to a leader nicknamed Mono Tole and had the capacity to “train up to fifty drug traffickers.” The United States has become a key partner for Ecuador in the “war” that President Noboa declared in early 2024 against criminal gangs, which he labeled “terrorists” for causing the worst wave of violence in the country’s history, with Ecuador leading Latin America in homicide rates. The U.S. also designated Los Lobos and Los Choneros, Ecuador’s two largest and most violent criminal groups, as “terrorists.” Following his meeting with Trump, Noboa met with Kristi Noem pictured below, supervisor of the “Shield of the Americas” strategy and the recently dismissed U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security. and attended a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Noem, and the presidents of the other countries. “Ecuador has been a very steadfast partner for all of us. We have worked not only on security and the fight against the cartels, but also on ensuring that drug trafficking is combated,” Noem said at the meeting, according to a statement from the Ecuadorian Presidency. Also attending Saturday’s summit were the presidents of Argentina, Javier Milei; Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz; Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chávez; the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader; El Salvador, Nayib Bukele; Guyana, Irfaan Ali; Honduras, Nasry Asfura; Panama, José Raúl Mulino; Paraguay, Santiago Peña; and Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar. In addition, Chile’s president-elect, José Antonio Kast, who will be inaugurated next Wednesday, participated.