U.S. Terrorist List for Latin American Cartels Grows to 21 as Rubio Tours Colombia, Ecuador and Peru

Secretary of State Marco Rubio added a 21st name to the Trump administration's list of Latin American criminal groups designated as foreign terrorist organizations this week: Los Tiguerones, an Ecuadorian gang. Rubio announced the designation Wednesday, September 9, during a stop in Quito, according to Breitbart and The Independent.

The move is part of a strategy that started in February 2025, when the administration began applying a label once reserved for groups like ISIS and al-Qaida to drug cartels and street gangs. Mexico has eight groups on the list, more than any other country, including the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the two largest fentanyl traffickers into the United States, according to The Independent.

A Region Reordering Around Washington

Rubio's three-country tour through Colombia, Ecuador and Peru was built around counter-narcotics cooperation, but the trip produced a string of side deals. In Barranquilla, the U.S. and Colombia's new president, Abelardo de la Espriella, moved to sign a civil nuclear cooperation agreement and a critical minerals pact, according to the Los Angeles Times. De la Espriella, one of a wave of newly elected right-wing leaders in the region, has aligned with Trump on drugs, immigration and energy policy.

Colombian Foreign Minister Omar Bula called the visit the start of "rebuilding a strategic alliance with the United States, our main partner in the region," the Los Angeles Times reported. In Ecuador, President Daniel Noboa presented Rubio with the country's highest honor, the Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit, according to photos distributed by the Associated Press and carried by WTOP and The Independent.

Rubio didn't hold back rhetorically. Breitbart reported he delivered a "scathing condemnation" of leftist governance in the region, pointing to Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua as examples of economic and political ruin. He also said Mexico does not control large parts of its own territory, that cartels do, and that Mexico's enforcement efforts are inadequate, adding that the threat will be addressed "with or without Mexico's help," per Breitbart.

Lethal Force at Sea

The FTO strategy has moved beyond labels. U.S. Southern Command confirmed a lethal strike on a boat in the Caribbean this week that killed three people SOUTHCOM described as narco-terrorists, according to Breitbart. That strike is one of dozens carried out since the policy began, and The Independent reports the campaign has killed more than 200 people to date. SOUTHCOM separately reported sinking what it called a floating refueling station supporting drug trafficking in the Eastern Pacific.

The same legal framework was cited as the basis for the U.S. capture of Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro, according to The Independent. Days before Rubio's tour, acting Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodríguez agreed to give the United States control of roughly one-fifth of Venezuela's oil reserves, the largest proven reserves in the world, the Los Angeles Times reported. Rubio told reporters the fields were "once dominated by China and Russia and Iran" and would eventually generate revenue for Venezuelans "through a democratically elected government."

The Contradiction Critics Point To

Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was sentenced to 45 years in a U.S. federal prison for drug trafficking, and prosecutors said at trial he protected the Sinaloa Cartel. Trump pardoned him last year, and Hernández has since returned to Honduras, according to The Independent. That pardon complicates a foreign policy built on treating cartel affiliation as a terrorism-level offense.

Critics of the broader strategy would reasonably ask whether labeling profit-driven criminal groups as terrorist organizations justifies military strikes that bypass courts and due process, the way lethal action against a recognized terrorist group like ISIS might. More than 200 deaths from boat strikes represents a significant use of lethal force outside a declared war, and the legal authority for it deserves scrutiny. That concern exists alongside administration claims of disrupting trafficking: Guatemala and Argentina have adopted similar terrorist designations, and Ecuador has launched joint operations with U.S. forces on its own soil, according to The Independent.

What's Still Unsettled

Mexico remains the pressure point. With eight of the 21 designated groups and indictments already filed against high-ranking officials in Sinaloa state, Rubio's comments this week signal Washington is prepared to act with or without Mexico's cooperation. Whether that means expanded strikes on Mexican soil, and what legal authority would cover it, is a question the administration has not yet answered publicly. Peru, meanwhile, saw its national police commander, Óscar Arriola, resign this week amid criticism of the force's record against crime, a reminder that not every U.S.-aligned government in the region is winning its own fight.