Western backing fuels a rights crisis in Ecuador's drug war
Since President Noboa declared an internal armed conflict in 2024 to fight drug trafficking, security-force abuses have surged in Ecuador, with at least 51 people forcibly disappeared, plus extrajudicial killings and torture during raids; Western powers including the US, the EU and Britain have expanded cooperation through intelligence sharing and joint operations, while rights groups warn that the crackdown lacks safeguards to protect rights as violence and impunity grow.
