US strikes on Ecuadorian fishing boats raise humanitarian concerns but Trump admin not wavering

US forces intercepted the Ecuadorian vessel Manta on 5 September before the vessel was destroyed. Photograph: US Marine Corps Forces, South US forces intercepted the Ecuadorian vessel Manta on 5 September before the vessel was destroyed. Photograph: US Marine Corps Forces, South Ecuador US strikes on Ecuadorian fishing boats raise humanitarian concerns but Trump admin not wavering Attorney says fishers ‘losing their livelihoods’, but Marco Rubio maintains US still willing to ‘blow up ships if need be’

Tiago Rogero South America correspondent Sat 26 Sep 2026 12.00 EDT Last modified on Sat 26 Sep 2026 12.02 EDT Share Prefer the Guardian on Google W hile the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio , was being decorated in Quito by Ecuador’s president for “helping to promote peace in the region”, 10 Ecuadorian fishers whose boat had been blown up by US forces were adrift in the eastern Pacific.