It's a war': Marco Rubio labels Ecuadorian cartels foreign terrorists'

"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."

"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."

"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."

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated two Ecuador-based gangs, Los Lobos and Los Choneros, as foreign terrorist organizations and framed the move as part of a war on Latin American cartels. Rubio characterized the groups as narco terrorists responsible for violence beyond drug trafficking. The framing reflects a shift toward treating organised crime as terrorism and followed a US military strike on a Venezuelan boat that killed 11 alleged Tren de Aragua members. Legal experts raised concerns about the strike's legality and whether congressional approval would be sought. Rubio said cooperating governments would help identify alleged gang members.

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