U.S.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended controversial strikes on suspected drug-trafficking boats during a visit to Ecuador on Wednesday (September 9, 2026), arguing Latin American cartels would “eat these countries alive” if left unchecked.
Hailing a new generation of conservative leaders emerging across the region who are allied with President Donald Trump, Mr. Ecuador’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility Roberto Kury (right) and U.S. Rights groups, fishermen and their relatives have questioned the campaign, alleging vessels were targeted without sufficient evidence of links to trafficking. Speaking after talks with President Daniel Noboa in Quito, Mr. “It’s like a cancer that continues to grow until you don’t literally have a state anymore. Mr.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio (left) participate in a press conference at the presidential palace in Quito, Ecuador, on September 9, 2026. | Photo Credit: Reuters According to Pentagon figures, the operations have killed more than 200 people. Because if we didn’t, we would have failed country after failed country,” he said, i’m glad that we have leaders in this region that are serious about going after these groups,.
Rubio said Washington was finding partners willing to be “very aggressive” against criminal groups. Rubio said the operations would continue. “If you don’t confront these groups, they will eat these countries alive,” he warned. Rubio said decisions were made case by case and depended on the threat posed by a vessel, its location and local laws.
His last stop is in Peru, which has been led since July by conservative President Keiko Fujimori.
There, he is expected to advance the “Shield of the Americas” initiative, a U.S.-backed security partnership.
