The Ecuadorian Executive has announced that, in coordination with Colombia and the United States, it is organizing to carry out military actions against armed groups related to drug trafficking in the border strip with Colombia, after already establishing contacts with the new authorities in Bogotá.
The Ecuadorian Minister of Defense, Gian Carlo Loffredo, explained in an interview with the radio station Radio Sucesos that he recently spoke with his Colombian counterpart, Jorge Eduardo Mora, to discuss "sustained operations" in "the northern border cordon."
In this context, he specified that the dialogue included the deployment of "teams that have autonomy to make decisions when there are targets," a modality he defined as "opportunity target." He detailed that "they are not necessarily planned operations, but arise from a patrol, from a flyover, from surveillance with a drone."
Loffredo emphasized that the goal is for the forces of both countries to be able to "act together" in these scenarios to "take action against the irregular armed groups that operate in that sector." He also added that he discussed with the Colombian authorities "the possibility of unified command posts for these surveillance operations."
"We are already advancing on these issues and it is one of the topics we are going to discuss with General (Francis) Donovan --commander of the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM)--, because the United States is also coming to be part of the strategies we are going to implement for operations in the border area with Colombia," the minister stated.
In this regard, he maintained that there is currently a "golden opportunity" and highlighted that the governments of the two countries are "determined" to confront these criminal structures. "We have the support of the United States," Loffredo affirmed.
Ecuador and Colombia have intensified their rapprochement following the recent inauguration of the new Colombian president, Abelardo De la Espriella. Both states also participate in the Shield of the Americas, a multinational initiative promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump, along with conservative leaders in the region to combat criminal organizations.