The US State Department is designating two Ecuadorian criminal organizations as foreign terrorist organizations, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in the country’s capital, Quito, on Thursday.

The designations of Los Lobos and Los Choneros “brings with it all sorts of options in the United States to work in conjunction with the government of Ecuador in the future to stamp these groups out,” Rubio said alongside Ecuador’s foreign minister.

The top US diplomat said the designations not only allow the US to impose sanctions, but also mean it can share intelligence with Ecuador “that can be actioned for potentially lethal operations.”

“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 vic

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