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Secretary Rubio Holds a Joint Press Availability with Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Sommerfeld in Quito, Sep. 4, 2025

September 4, 2025 · U.S. Department of State · 0:31:04

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

Secretary of State Marco Rubio participated in a joint press availability with Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld at Carondelet Palace in Quito, Ecuador, on September 4, 2025, after meeting President Daniel Noboa, according to the State Department broadcast.

Sommerfeld said the two governments agreed to work jointly on drug-trafficking routes, money laundering, border work and illegal mining, to modernize an extradition treaty she described as roughly 150 years old, and to move quickly toward a trade agreement, with U.S. support for Ecuador’s IMF programs.

Rubio announced that the United States is designating Los Lobos and Los Choneros as terrorist groups, which he said “gives the U.S. many options to fight against them,” and announced $13.7 million through the State Department to fight drugs and crime plus work toward $6 million in drones for the Ecuadorian navy. He said the two sides also discussed the long-term possibility of stationing U.S. troops in Ecuador for joint training and operations, in cooperation with the Ecuadorian government. “You cannot have economic prosperity without stability, and you cannot have stability without security,” he said, describing the trafficking groups as narcoterrorists whose product ultimately reaches the United States.

Why it matters

The Quito availability pairs a foreign terrorist designation with named dollar commitments and a possible future U.S. training presence — the hemispheric security model the Secretary carried through Mexico, Ecuador and Paraguay in the same swing.

Scoreboard watch

Scoreboard candidate: the designations and figures as announced on September 4, 2025 — Los Lobos and Los Choneros designated as terrorist groups, $13.7 million in State Department counternarcotics and anti-crime support, and $6 million in drones for Ecuador’s navy. Flagged for the scoreboard editor; no entry is published from this page.

Sources: U.S. Department of State, “Secretary Rubio’s Joint Press Availability with Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Sommerfeld” (official upload, embedded above; Quito, Ecuador). Remarks as delivered 2025-09-04; transcript reviewed in the site’s private research store; full transcript at state.gov.