Ecuadorean gang leader Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, known as "Fito," appears in U.S. federal court on international charges of drug and weapons trafficking in New York, U.S., July 21, 2025 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg/File Photo

By Daphne Psaledakis and Alexandra Valencia

QUITO (Reuters) -The United States announced nearly $20 million in new security commitments for Ecuador during a visit by Secretary of State Marco Rubio to the Andean country on Thursday, as Washington seeks to buoy allies in its crackdown on drug cartels.

The commitments include over $13 million in general security funding, plus $6 million for drones for the Ecuadorean Navy, Rubio said.

"This is the beginning of what we can do together," Rubio said during joint remarks with Ecuadorean counterpart Gabriela Sommerfeld, saying the U.S. would consider a military base in Ecuador if invited by that country.

Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa, who also met with Rubio, supports such a base but needs voter approval for it in a referendum.

The U.S. previously had a base in the coastal city of Manta, but left in 2009 on orders from Ecuador's then-president.

The United States also designated two Ecuadorean criminal groups, Los Choneros and Los Lobos, as foreign terrorist organizations, Rubio said.

Los Choneros' alleged leader, Jose Adolfo "Fito" Macias Villamar, has been indicted on federal drug and gun charges in the United States, where he is currently being held. He has pleaded not guilty.

Both gangs were sanctioned by the United States in 2024.

Rubio said the designation will allow the U.S. to go after their assets and facilitate intelligence sharing with Ecuador.

"It opens up the aperture for the amount of intelligence that we can now share, which is very valuable when you're trying to wage war against these vicious animals, these terrorists," Rubio said.

Killings in the South American country have increased despite Noboa's efforts to combat gang violence tied to the drug trade. Homicides rose 40% in the first seven months of this year compared to the same period in 2024.

Noboa, elected this year to a full term, has deployed the military on the streets and lawmakers have approved reforms the president says will help curb crime, including harsher penalties for drug trafficking.

The two countries are close to a trade agreement, the officials said, with Rubio adding a deal could come within weeks and that he anticipated positive news on tariffs.

Ecuador will accept potential migrants in a deal with the U.S., Sommerfeld said, but it was unclear if those people would be deportees from the United States or people applying for refugee status.

A senior State Department official said the U.S. and Ecuador had reached a safe third country agreement, which has already been signed but implementation was still being worked on.

The deal would allow U.S. asylum seekers fearing persecution to go to Ecuador instead of their home country while their case is considered, the official said, adding there was no set number of asylum seekers that would be accepted by Ecuador under the agreement.

"The U.S. may propose people to the partner country, and they may accept or not ... So it's very case-by-case," the official said.

Ecuador's foreign ministry said the number of people would be limited.

"Ecuador will support the United States. It's very symbolic, it is something that is important for our partner and we will do it in a coordinated way, protecting the interest of the Ecuadorean state and with a veto right for Ecuador for people who aren't in our interest," said Sommerfeld.

(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis and Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle and Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Alistair Bell and Saad Sayeed)