The U.S. has joined forces with Ecuador to launch military operations against “designated terrorist organizations” in the South American country in an expansion of the Trump administration’s campaign targeting what it claims are drug traffickers in the region.
U.S. Southern Command announced the operations in a late-night X post on Tuesday, writing, “On March 3, Ecuadorian and U.S. military forces launched operations against Designated Terrorist Organizations in Ecuador. The operations are a powerful example of the commitment of partners in Latin America and the Caribbean to combat the scourge of narco-terrorism.”
“Together, we are taking decisive action to confront narco-terrorists who have long inflicted terror, violence, and corruption on citizens throughout the hemisphere.”
The post also included a quote from Southern Command General Francis L. Donovan, who said, “We commend the men and women of the Ecuadorian armed forces for their unwavering commitment to this fight, demonstrating courage and resolve through continued actions against narco-terrorists in their country.”
Attached to the post was a video of a helicopter taking off from an undisclosed location before cutting to black-and-white footage of the helicopter picking up soldiers.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Pentagon and the White House for comment.
U.S. Special Forces soldiers are advising and supporting Ecuadorian commandos on raids that are being conducted at suspected drug shipment facilities across the country, according to the New York Times.
A U.S. official who spoke to the Times explained that U.S. soldiers are not believed to be participating in the raids, but are merely assisting with planning and providing intelligence and logistics support.
The official said that the video posted to social media depicted the first in what was expected to be a series of raids across Ecuador.
The launch of operations in Ecuador comes after the U.S. has conducted numerous strikes on what it claims are boats being used for drug-smuggling around the Caribbean and just days after Trump began a new war with Iran after conducting joint strikes with Israel in the country on the weekend.
At least 151 people have been killed in 44 strikes on 45 vessels across the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific since the first strike on September 2.
The Trump administration has not been forthcoming with evidence that the boats it has targeted were being used to smuggle narcotics, prompting legal experts to argue that the strikes are illegal and extrajudicial.
There have also been concerns that the Trump administration may have committed a war crime when it used an aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane to conduct a strike, according to a New York Times report published in January.
“Shielding your identity is an element of perfidy,” Retired Maj. Gen. Steven Lepper, a former judge advocate in the Air Force, told the Times. “If the aircraft flying above is not identifiable as a combatant aircraft, it should not be engaged in combatant activity.”
Trump’s controversial extrajudicial strikes in the region culminated in the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife First Lady Cilia Flores in early January.
The pair was taken from a residence in Caracas and flown to New York, where they face charges of narco-terrorism, cocaine importation, and weapons possession. In his first court appearance following his abduction, Maduro described himself as a “prisoner of war” and pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The joint operation in Ecuador is the latest in a long line of foreign military operations undertaken during Trump’s second term in office.
Under Trump, who previously dubbed himself the “Peace President” and ran on a platform of “no new wars,” U.S. forces have conducted strikes on Iran, Venezuela, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Somalia, and Nigeria, as well as on numerous vessels throughout the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.
