Link to article: https://www.nytimescom/2026/09/09/world/americas/ecuador-los-tiguerones-terroristhtml
On Marko Rubio’s September 9th visit to Quito he announced that the U.S. had designated the Ecuadorian gang Los Tigurones as a Foreign terrorist Organization. He accused it of helping Mexican cartels move illicit drugs and carrying out attacks against civilians, police, and journalists. The gang, which emerged in the late 2010’s in Guayaquil became infamous for storming a TV station during a live broadcast in 2024. The designation freezes U.S. based assets and criminalizes material support. Also, Rubio pledged around $45 million in security aid and announced sanctions on several former Ecuadorean officials accused of corruption. This is because more than 25,000 people have been killed during Ecuador’s surge in criminal violence in the past three years. This move follows similar terrorist designations for other Ecuadorian gangs like Los Lobos.
This matters because it shows an actual shift in U.S. Policy. The terrorist label used to be reserved for ideological groups like al- Qaeda, not street gangs. Using it in this case shows how much Ecuadorean gangs have grown. Some are now organized and armed like a mini military. Ecuador has gone from one of the safer countries in Latin America to one of the more dangerous ones in the last 10 years. This is partially due to its location. It’s in between Colombia and Peru, which are the world’s biggest cocaine producers and it has easy access to the Pacific Ocean. A weak government has only made it worse. The designation gives the U.S. more tools to fight the gang but real change is still contingent on Ecuador’s government fixing its own problems.
The U.S. government gains legal leverage to freeze assets and pursue financial networks, but must coordinate extradition case-by-case since designation alone does not compel it. President Noboa’s government can use the label to justify continued militarized crackdowns and request more U.S. aid, while facing pressure to reform prisons that fuel recruitment. This story shows how weak state institutions, like prisons, can end up helping crime grow instead of stopping it. Gangs recruit and organize from inside prisons.
Sovereignty and legal tools show how powerful states project influence over weaker ones without direct military intervention. Lastly, calling the gang “terrorist” instead of just “criminal” changes how governments are allowed to respond to it, which connects to ideas about labeling and power we’ve talked about in class.