The US and Ecuador launched joint military action against cartels, marking a major escalation of Washington’s regional campaign against drug trafficking.
Since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, the White House has ramped up its war on drugs across Latin America, striking dozens of vessels in the Caribbean allegedly carrying drugs to the US, and providing Mexico with intelligence it used to capture the leader of the country’s biggest cartel.
However, experts have warned the war is unlikely to translate to a drop in drug production given strong demand in the US and Europe, and may instead turn Latin America even more violent.
