Spanningen in Ecuador

[Ace1]

US deploys troops to Ecuador for anti-drug operation

Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa, one of Trump's closest allies in Latin America, is attempting to roll back a wave of drug cartel violence in what was once one of South America's safest countries.

The United States announced on Wednesday, December 17, a temporary deployment of Air Force personnel to Ecuador to combat drug trafficking in one of Latin America's biggest narcotics smuggling hubs. The deployment comes amid a deepening standoff between the US and Latin American oil producer Venezuela, whose leader Washington accuses of drug trafficking.

The US personnel will be deployed at Ecuador's Manta air force base, which served as a US base for a decade until 2009.

Ecuadorian voters in November overwhelmingly rejected President Daniel Noboa's bid to lift the country's ban on foreign military bases. According to the US embassy in Quito, the deployment is a "temporary operation with the Ecuadorian Air Force in Manta."

The "short-term joint effort" will "enhance the capacity of the Ecuadorian military forces to combat narco-terrorists, including strengthening intelligence gathering and anti-drug trafficking capabilities, and is designed to protect the US and Ecuador from the threats we share," the embassy said.

Noboa, one of Trump's closest allies in Latin America, said the operation "will allow us to identify and dismantle drug trafficking routes, and subdue those who thought they could take over the country."

Noboa is attempting to roll back a wave of drug cartel violence that has turned what was once one of South America's safest countries into one of its deadliest. The ports of Guayaquil and Manta have become key exit points for cocaine produced in neighboring Colombia and Peru. The right-wing Noboa has argued that Ecuador needs outside help to fight the gangs vying for control of trafficking routes.

US in a growing conflict with Venezuela
The US under Trump is aggressively moving to combat drug operations in Latin America. At the heart of the campaign is a growing conflict with the hard-left government in Venezuela. Massive US naval and air forces have been deployed in waters off Latin America and dozens of small boats allegedly running drugs have been bombed in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, killing at least 95 people so far.

Trump has also sought to pile economic pain on Venezuela by announcing a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers used to transport Venezuelan oil.

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/global-issues/article/2025/12/17/us-deploys-troops-to-ecuador-for-anti-drugs-operation_6748609_199.html

[Ace1]

Ecuador plagued by 'narco-bananas' trafficking

As the world's leading exporter of both bananas and cocaine, the Andean country − with its poorly equipped and vulnerable ports − has become a logistical hub between producers in Colombia and Peru and consumers, particularly in Europe.

Under the watchful eye of the camera attached to the ceiling of the hangar, the man closed the two doors of the white truck. He applied two seals, two GPS padlocks and three security tags. The vehicle, loaded with 960 cases of bananas, then set off for the port of Guayaquil, a two-hour drive from the La Margot estate in the province of Los Rios. Before departing that day, April 15, the truck driver made the sign of the cross; the heavy vehicles are occasionally attacked by gangs serving the mafia.

Nestled in the Northwest of the South American continent, the small country of Ecuador is the world's leading exporter of both bananas and cocaine. "Criminals force the locks, tear off the labels, 'contaminate' the cargo and then replace them with cloned locks and labels, perfectly identical," said the truck driver. In Ecuador, to "contaminate" means to introduce or to contain cocaine. The fruit can be contaminated, as can the cardboard boxes, wooden pallets, container walls or even the refrigeration systems. On the high seas, traffickers can even attach a submersible filled with cocaine to the cargo ship.


https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2025/05/15/ecuador-plagued-by-narco-bananas-trafficking_6741324_4.html