>>24953570 pb
>@Osint613 - The head of Ecuador's National Intelligence Center, Michele Sensi-Contugi, was killed in a helicopter crash in Kenya…near Mount Ololokwe on August 19.
AI summary:
Recent investigative reports have exposed an … expansion of U.S.-Ecuador joint security operations inside Ecuador and off its Pacific coast. Following President Daniel Noboa's declaration of an "internal armed conflict" against powerful drug cartels (such as Los Lobos and Los Choneros), the U.S. military and intelligence agencies entered a new, interventionist phase of direct action. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Recent reporting and major human rights groups details a hidden front involving covert airstrikes, allegations of torture, and civilian casualties. [4, 6, 7]
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## 1. The Covert CIA Maritime Campaign & "Operation Southern Spear"
While the U.S. military has historically provided intelligence and training, recent operations involve direct kinetic action. [3, 8]
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Mysterious Boat Bombings:
Between January and March 2026, three Ecuadorian longline fishing vessels…were targeted in the Eastern Pacific near the Galápagos Islands. [2, 6, 9]
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The CIA Connection:
Investigative leaks published in August 2026 revealed that a covert Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) program has been orchestrating explosive-laden drone and aerial strikes against these vessels under a regional counter-narcotics campaign. [6, 7, 10]
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Contractor Hardware:
Flight tracking data revealed that a V-BAT surveillance drone registered to U.S. defense contractor Shield AI hovered over one burning vessel. Flight data also tracked a secretive U.S.-registered surveillance plane ("FENIX 701") flying out of an old CIA staging ground in Ilopango, El Salvador, to hunt the boats. [7, 11, 12]
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Enforced Disappearances:
Survivors reported being bombed by drones, hooding, and being detained at sea by English-speaking personnel in U.S. uniforms before being handed over to Salvadoran custody. Eight crew members from the vessel Fiorella vanished entirely after a January strike. [2, 7, 9, 13]
## 2. Escalation to Land Operations and Civilian Abuse
U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) and U.S. Special Forces officially launched joint land-based operations inside Ecuador on March 3, 2026. [1, 4, 14]
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The "Total Extermination" Raid:
Under a joint operation aimed at destroying a Colombian drug-trafficking group (Comandos de la Frontera), Ecuadorian forces—with U.S. backing—assaulted a property in San Martín near the Colombia-Ecuador border.
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Militarily Target vs. Dairy Farm:
While touted as a success by leadership, a comprehensive report and New York Times investigation found that the joint forces actually destroyed a civilian dairy farm. Ecuadorian soldiers allegedly torched properties, air-dropped munitions, and tortured four local dairy workers before a prosecutor refused to charge them.
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Continued Land Raids:
Despite mounting pushback, joint forces conducted another major riverbank operation on August 7, 2026, using military riverboats to carry out a controlled explosion on a suspected cartel narcotics stash. [2, 6, 7, 13, 15, 16, 17]
## 3. Political Backlash and Legal Scrutiny
The depth of the U.S. military footprint has provoked intense political blowback in both Washington and Quito:
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U.S. Congressional Demands:
A coalition of U.S. House progressives has demanded inquiries into whether these joint operations violate the Leahy Laws, which prohibit the U.S. government from providing military assistance to foreign security forces when there is credible information that those forces have committed gross violations of human rights. [18]
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Ecuadorian Sovereignty Concerns:
Security experts and civil society groups have warned that President Noboa’s reliance on U.S. forces cedes immense national sovereignty. This militarization directly bypasses an November 2025 referendum where Ecuadorian voters overwhelmingly rejected the establishment of foreign military bases. [7, 16]
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U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has publicly praised Ecuador's "regional leadership" in launching these joint operations, signalling that despite investigations into civilian abuses and covert CIA actions, the highly militarized campaign is poised to expand further across Latin America. [7, 16, 17]
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continued - sauce in next post