Manta, Ecuador – Jose Hernan Flores is still trying to recover from what he describes as a hostile encounter with United States forces at sea. Flores is a fisherman from the town of San Mateo, along Ecuador’s Pacific coast. In March, he was out on the water with his crew of 16, piloting his vessel, La Negra Francisca Duarte II, to chase schools of fish. Suddenly, a group of military-style drones appeared in the sky.
They swooped towards La Negra Francisca Duarte II. “We saw drones exploding on the ship, and we did not understand what was going on. Two of our sailors were injured,” Flores told Al Jazeera. As La Negra Francisca Duarte II caught fire, Flores and his crew abandoned ship, escaping onto smaller boats, known as skiffs, used to help with their fishing. “We jumped on the smaller vessels to try to get assistance,” Flores explained. But as they approached what appeared to be a nearby tuna vessel, Flores realised its occupants were not fishermen at all.
They were soldiers. “They had beards and had US military uniforms. They handcuffed and blindfolded us. They had drones and all sorts of military equipment,” Flores said. The soldiers helped treat those injured in Flores’s crew and then handed them over to a navy unit from El Salvador.
The fishermen were at sea for at least another week until they were brought ashore. Later, they were deported back to Ecuador. Flores says his boat, valued at around $400,000, was completely destroyed. He is still paying off the loan he took out to buy it.
His story is one of dozens from Ecuadorian fishermen who claim they too were attacked by the US at sea. While the US military has denied responsibility for the sinking of Flores’s boat, the North American country has adopted an increasingly aggressive approach to what it considers to be maritime drug-trafficking. Since the start of US President Donald Trump’s second term, the Pentagon has carried out dozens of strikes on small vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, many of them lethal. The Trump administration has argued that such attacks are necessary to combat “narco-terrorism”.
But fishermen say they are coming under fire for no discernable reason. Positioned between the two largest coca-growing regions in the world — Colombia and Peru — Ecuador has become one of the most important transit points for cocaine leaving South America. It has therefore emerged as a crucial ally in Trump’s campaign against drug-trafficking organisations. This week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio toured Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, in part to generate support for the US fight against criminal groups in the region.
In Quito, Rubio said the Trump administration would seek $45m in additional security funding for Ecuador and deliver more military equipment to President Daniel Noboa’s right-wing government. He also confirmed that “elite forces” from the US were working with Ecuador to dismantle what he called “terrorist organisations”. “I think it’s important to point out, for a second, that the groups we are taking on, these are terrorist organisations. These are not just criminal organisations,” Rubio said. But many in Ecuador are concerned about their country’s coopereation with the US military is affecting communities in the region.
Earlier this month, in the fishing village of Santa Marianita, dozens of people gathered on the coast to demand justice for the fishermen who have been attacked. Lourdes Mero’s husband and son have been missing for months. The Fiorella, the fishing vessel they were travelling on, disappeared near the Galapagos Islands in January. Eight of the boat’s 10 crew have been missing ever since.
The two survivors had been piloting skiffs to lay bait when they said they lost contact with the Fiorella. They reportedly saw smoke rising on the horizon. The missing men’s families still do not know whether their loved ones are dead or alive. “My husband has heart disease, and I don’t know what to do. Please return my family to me,” Mero said during an interview with Al Jazeera. “We need the eight crew members back.
We don’t know where they are. We are asking the government, but nobody tells us anything.” According to The Washington Post, the operation was part of a covert US programme led by the Cental Intelligence Agency (CIA), targeting vessels suspected of drug trafficking. But the US has never publicly acknowledged carrying out any attack against the Fiorella. Fishing communities on the Pacific coast say they are how caught between two threats: US operations at sea and criminal organisations that use ports for drug trafficking.
Cesar Delgado is from the Manta Crew Members Association, a professional group based in Manta, one of Ecuador’s largest hubs for tuna fishing. He explained that many fishermen are now afraid to go out to sea, in case they are mistaken for drug traffickers and targeted by US forces. “Eighty percent of the fleet is not at sea but right on the port. Our fishermen are running out of work. People are losing their ships,” Delgado said.
He called on the US government to provide evidence for its allegations that it targeting drug-trafficking vessels, not fishermen. “If they have proof that there are drugs, they should show it — not sink the boat, which is what they are doing,” Delgado added. The US has acknowledged intercepting some boats. As recently as Tuesday, US Southern Command, which oversees military operations in Latin America, announced it had intercepted a “floating refueling station” it claims was linked to Los Choneros, an Ecuadorian gang. After removing the individuals on board, the US military said it proceeded to sink the boat.
In such cases, the US has indicated it transfers suspects back to Ecuadorian authorities. But those detentions may have fallen short of legal standards. On Saturday, a judge in Ecuador ordered the release of 28 fishermen, ruling there was not enough evidence to keep them in custody. Other cases are currently being investigated.
But critics say the harm goes beyond Ecuador’s fishing communities. As the US expands its security footprint, concerns are likewise growing about the future of Latin American sovereignty under Trump — and Washington’s adherence to the rule of law.
