U.S. Terror List For Latin America Expands To 21 Groups With New Ecuador Designation
The Trump administration added an Ecuadorian criminal group to its list of U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations, raising the Latin America and Caribbean total to 21 on Wednesday, September 9, 2026.[1]
The move was announced as Secretary of State Marco Rubio made a diplomatic trip to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.[1] The administration frames Rubio's visits as part of a broader strategy to fight drug trafficking by using terrorism designations against criminal networks.[1]
In February 2025, the administration formally shifted policy to label criminal cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.[1] PBS and the Associated Press report that the policy was later used as a pretext for the U.S. capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and for dozens of lethal attacks on alleged "narcoterrorist" boats that killed more than 200 people.[1] The designations have prompted Guatemala and Argentina to adopt similar measures and have pushed Ecuador to launch joint operations on its soil with U.S. support.[1] Mexico now has eight groups on the U.S. FTO list, the most in the region, and its government is under strong U.S. pressure amid fears of unilateral U.S. actions.[1] Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was sentenced in the U.S. to 45 years for drug trafficking, was pardoned by Trump in 2025 and has returned to Honduras.[1]
Show source details & analysis (2 sources)
📌 Key Facts
- The Trump administration has designated 21 Latin American and Caribbean criminal organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, with the latest an Ecuadorian group added on Wednesday, September 9, 2026 (Trump administration).
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio's September trip to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru is being positioned as part of a broader U.S. strategy to combat drug trafficking using terrorism designations (Marco Rubio's September trip).
- A February 2025 strategy shift to label criminal cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations is presented as having been used as a pretext for the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro and for dozens of lethal attacks on alleged 'narcoterrorist' boats that resulted in more than 200 deaths (February 2025 strategy shift).
- The U.S. FTO designations have prompted Latin American counterparts such as Guatemala and Argentina to adopt similar measures and have pushed Ecuador to launch joint operations on its soil with U.S. support (U.S. FTO designations).
- Mexico now has eight groups on the U.S. FTO list—the most of any country in the region—and its government is under strong U.S. pressure amid fears of unilateral Trump actions (Mexico).
- Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, sentenced in the U.S. to 45 years for drug trafficking and accused of protecting the Sinaloa cartel, was pardoned by Trump in 2025 and has returned to Honduras (Juan Orlando Hernández).
📰 Source Timeline (2)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- PBS/AP reports on September 11, 2026, that the Trump administration has now designated 21 Latin American and Caribbean criminal organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, with the latest an Ecuadorian group added on Wednesday, September 9, 2026.
- The article situates Secretary of State Marco Rubio's September trip to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru as part of a broader U.S. strategy to combat drug trafficking in Latin America using terrorism designations.
- It says the February 2025 strategy shift to label criminal cartels as FTOs served as a pretext for the U.S. capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and for dozens of lethal attacks on alleged 'narcoterrorist' boats, resulting in more than 200 deaths.
- PBS/AP notes that the U.S. FTO designations have spurred Latin American counterparts such as Guatemala and Argentina to adopt similar measures and have pushed Ecuador to launch joint operations on its own soil with U.S. support.
- The story reports that Mexico now has eight groups on the U.S. FTO list, the most of any country in the region, and that its government is under strong U.S. pressure amid fears of unilateral Trump actions.
- It highlights a contradiction in the approach by noting that former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, sentenced in the U.S. to 45 years for drug trafficking and accused of protecting the Sinaloa cartel, was pardoned by Trump in 2025 and has returned to Honduras.