Ecuadorian Prosecutor Investigating US Boat Strikes and Torture Murdered in Manta

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Alexandra Bravo, an Ecuadorian prosecutor, was fatally shot by a hitman in Manta on June 14.

The Collapse of Institutional Oversight in Manta

Since September, American maritime actions have targeted vessels in regional waters without the Trump administration publishing evidence linking those ships or their passengers to narcotics trafficking.

Survivors Allege Torture Aboard U.S. Vessels

Bravo’s final caseload focused directly on three Ecuadorian vessels attacked by U.S. forces. Thirty-six passengers survived those strikes, subsequently giving harrowing accounts of torture allegedly inflicted by American personnel wearing military uniforms aboard a U.S.-flagged patrol ship.

Quito Journalist Alleges Foreign Mercenary Presence

Investigative journalist and labor organizer Camila Lourdes Galarza, based in Quito, characterizes these developments as indicative of a deepening U.S.-backed military dictatorship within the country. According to Lourdes Galarza, former Blackwater mercenaries actively patrolled voting sites at gunpoint during the reelection campaign of Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa last year.

International Observers Slam Opaque Bilateral Pacts

Juanita Goebertus, director of the Americas division at Human Rights Watch, notes that the Trump administration has aggressively deepened security cooperation with Ecuador to counter surging organized crime groups. However, Goebertus emphasizes that neither government has provided transparency regarding the exact nature, scope, or rules of engagement governing this bilateral security apparatus.

Impunity Deepens Amid a Vacuum of Accountability

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