U.S. Designates Ecuador's Los Tiguerones a Terrorist Group, Expanding 20-Group Latin America Push
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 9
U.S. Designates Ecuador's Los Tiguerones a Terrorist Group, Expanding 20-Group Latin America Push
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 9
Summary
Los Tiguerones was added Wednesday to both the U.S. foreign terrorist organization list and the specially designated global terrorist list during Marco Rubio's visit to Quito.
Those labels let Washington target the gang's assets and cut it off from U.S. financial and banking networks, part of an effort to weaken criminal groups Rubio said are overpowering some governments.
The designation does not by itself authorize U.S. military operations, though the Trump administration has highlighted such listings while describing a broader anti-cartel campaign in Latin America.
About 20 Latin American groups have been added to U.S. terrorism lists since last year, including Ecuador's Los Lobos and Los Choneros in July, signaling deeper U.S.-Ecuador security cooperation.
Will branding Ecuador's drug gangs as global terrorists stop cartel violence, or just trigger more human rights abuses in the crossfire?
How can businesses avoid federal prosecution when the U.S. targets highly fragmented shadow networks whose members are virtually impossible to identify?