A farmer walks amidst rubble after a bomb was dropped by the Ecuadorian army in the Lago Agrio region, Sucumbíos province, Ecuador, on the border with Colombia, on March 18, 2026. Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa presented the operation to the press as the first airstrike in the “joint operations” with Washington against drug trafficking, announcing the destruction of an alleged training camp belonging to the Border Commands, an armed group.
Ordinary people were subjected to torture and arbitrary detention in a partnered operation between the United States and Ecuador. Two fishing boats were attacked by armed drones of unknown origin off the Ecuadorian coast and a third has gone missing with most of its crew. One incident clearly implicates the US-Ecuador security partnership; the others surface questions about responsibility that neither government has adequately addressed.The US Congress should take urgent steps to scrutinize these incidents and the broader security cooperation between Ecuador and the United States.
(Washington, DC) – The United States and Ecuador are deepening their security cooperation against a backdrop of serious human rights violations by Ecuadorian forces, unexplained drone attacks on fishing boats, and the disappearance of several fishermen, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The US Congress should urgently scrutinize these incidents and the broader security relationship between Ecuador and the United States.
July 21, 2026 A Dangerous Partnership
Abuses, Unanswered Questions, and US-Ecuador Security Cooperation
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The 94-page report, "A Dangerous Partnership: Abuses, Unanswered Questions, and US-Ecuador Security Cooperation," docum
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