The Cost of Resisting the Empire

https://www.democracynow.org/2026/7/31/ecuador_boat_strikes_prosecutor_killed

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/may/20/forced-disappearances-torture-ecuador-war-on-drugs-us-troops

https://thegrayzone.substack.com/p/was-ecuadorian-activist-monika-silva  

Whether direct US agents or through proxies, whether by direct order or by an insinuation, someone in Washington ordered this hit. Traditionally it would have been CIA, but the Pentagon has its own intelligence special operations forces. The Pentagon has the most to lose from a prosecution, but at the same time there would be some caution before they just sent in special ops to assassinate someone.

That would be the conventional thinking but of course under the Trump-Hegseth Pentagon, some of that thinking no longer applies.

Would Pete Hegseth give such an order? Do you doubt it?

Noboa Inaugurated and Ecuador's Future in the Age of Trump

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/5/24/ecuadors-daniel-noboa-sworn-in-for-full-term-promising-a-crackdown-on-gangs

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/12/ecuador-president-blackwater-alliance

Ecuador had been part of the so-called Pink Tide of Latin American nations that had turned turned to Left-wing governments during the George Bush era. The term of Rafael Correa (2007-2017) came to symbolize this era for Ecuador. After Correa departed office, his party continued holding power but the shift was underway. By 2021 a conservative (and pro-Washington) president was in power but his tenure was marked by controversy, corruption, and ultimately collapse.

China, the Monroe Doctrine, and the American Empire: A Proxy Struggle in Ecuador

 https://thegrayzone.com/2024/08/29/secret-chats-decade-us-meddling-ecuador/

There's evidence of US meddling in the politics of Ecuador. Personally I did not find any of these revelations to be shocking. While the explicit evidence wasn't always there, these types of machinations are well known to those who have been paying attention. Wikileaks also played a role in bringing some of these things to light and by some reckonings, they're not all scandalous but are simply descriptive of how governments work with and relate to one another. It's often something other than what people think.