Ecuador deepens militarization and grants immunity to foreigners amid U.S. security pact

Ecuador and the United States signed a cooperation agreement for joint security operations along Ecuador's northern border with Colombia. The pact provides for information sharing and coordination between police and armed forces, with a pilot project slated for the border region that could later be expanded to other areas.

The agreement was announced a week after President Daniel Noboa declared a new 60‑day state of exception in ten provinces, citing a surge in crime, and reaffirmed the country's status as being in an "internal armed conflict." The decree suspends constitutional guarantees of home and correspondence inviolability, authorises the armed forces to act in public security, and grants criminal immunity to security agents, civilians, military personnel and foreigners involved in repression. Opposition party Revolution Citizen has had its registration suspended, and human‑rights groups warn of forced disappearances, especially of Afro‑Ecuadorian citizens. Sociologist Irene León said the wave of militarization "has been instrumentalized to persecute political opponents" and has not reduced gang violence, suggesting the measures serve broader U.S. geopolitical interests.