Rubio in Ecuador: Announces help to confront drug traffickers and calls Maduro a 'fugitive from US justice'

Marco Rubio on Thursday announced nearly $20 million in aid to Ecuador to bolster security and said his country designated two Ecuadorian criminal gangs as terrorists.

The chief diplomat promised more efforts by President Donald Trump against criminal groups: "This administration is tackling this problem like never before," he told a press conference in Quito.

The secretary of state's visit to Ecuador comes two days after a U.S. military operation destroyed a speedboat in the Caribbean allegedly used for drug trafficking by a gang linked to the Venezuelan government. According to Trump, the operation left 11 dead.

Before landing in the South American country, Marco Rubio included in his agenda a visit to Mexico, also to address issues related to crime and drug trafficking in the region, in addition to other issues.

"We value his efforts and also his interest in our country"

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa also received Rubio, in a meeting that the Presidency of that nation defined as "historic that consolidates cooperation ties between both countries."

The meeting addressed key issues such as security, the fight against drug trafficking, migration, cooperation programs and economic development, according to the X profile of the Government of Ecuador.

Rubio, for his part, stressed the strengthening of cooperation in security and migration in an Ecuador mired in drug violence, while promoting a relentless offensive against criminal groups in the region.

Daniel Noboa, an ally of his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, keeps his troops deployed to combat the gangs that have transformed the country into one of the most dangerous in Latin America.

Rubio was escorted into the government palace in Quito's historic center as a pianist played America the Beautiful.

"We value your effort and also your interest in our country and in everything we are doing here to eliminate any terrorist threat," Noboa told Rubio in English during their meeting.

The efforts will help to advance "in the protection of the United States and our way of life," the Ecuadorian added.

Rubio denounces Nicolás Maduro as a "fugitive from U.S. justice"

Marco Rubio also referred this Thursday to Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro as a fugitive from U.S. justice, who accuses him of drug trafficking, in an escalation of the tone against the Venezuelan leader.

Maduro is a "fugitive from U.S. justice," said the head of diplomacy during his visit to Ecuador.

"We are not only going after drug traffickers with small speedboats... the president has said he wants to declare war on these groups," he added, while there is in the Caribbean, near Venezuelan waters, a deployment of U.S. Navy ships.