Recent events in Latin America are beginning to raise eyebrows in the broader public. Much of it comes thanks to the recent Shield of the Americas summit at Trump’s Doral golf resort in Florida. The summit, which led to the creation of the America Counter Cartel Coalition (ACCC), underscored the White House’s goals in the region. More specifically, the mission in Trump’s corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, aka the “Donroe Doctrine,” which seeks dominion over Latin America through “an America first policy of peace through strength.”
Days before the summit, in what is seemingly a preview of what’s to come for the region under the guise of counter-narcotics operations, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa authorized a joint attack on alleged cartel groups. The attack, however, targeted Indigenous communities opposed to Noboa’s government. The U.S. and Europol forces from Belgium and the Netherlands assisted in the attack. But like the bombing of boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean, no evidence has been provided to validate that a cartel was targeted, only allegations.
Noboa’s long history of targeting his opposition, often designating protesters as terrorists, seems to have been emboldened leading up to the summit. He has been overly active in silencing dissenters since. In October 2025, Amnesty International issued an alert about judicial independence, repression of protests, and enforced disappearances under the Noboa administration’s “Plan Fénix” militarized security strategy. As many as 43 disappearances have occurred since Noboa took office in 2023.
“During our recent visit to Ecuador, we received worrying information about actions promoted by the executive that seek to silence dissent and promote impunity,” said Ana Piquer, Americas Director at Amnesty International. “The repression of protests, attacks on the Constitutional Court, and the persistence of a militarized security strategy, despite serious human rights violations, place Ecuador on the list of countries in the region that are experiencing a worrying rise in authoritarian practices.”
Noboa’s government continues to operate with impunity under the guise of targeting drug-smuggling networks. Recently, Interior Minister John Reimberg announced a major offensive that began last weekend in the provinces of Guayas, Ecuador’s most populous province, Los Ríos, and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas. The militarized efforts include imposing nightly curfews to facilitate troop movements.
As the FBI opens an office in Ecuador, a country that serves as a hub for drug trafficking from South America into Central America, the United States, and Europe, Noboa’s businesses have been implicated in smuggling cocaine. While Ecuador descends into an authoritarian government, questions arise about whether the Noboa administration, with the backing of U.S. President Donald Trump, is actually targeting drug smuggling networks not to eliminate them, but to consolidate control over them for his partners, while also targeting his opposition.
Noboa’s government recently requested that an electoral judge order a nine-month suspension of the country’s largest opposition party, the Citizens’ Revolution. The suspension was granted and covers the registration window for candidates in the upcoming 2027 elections, preventing opposition participation. The ACCC is likely to provide cover for governments to suppress opposition under the guise of anti-narcotics operations, particularly in countries like Ecuador and El Salvador, where the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) warned that President Nayib Bukele’s security policies may constitute crimes against humanity.
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