U.S. Troops One Foot into Ecuador

2026 has been a near-record-breaking year in terms of United States interventionism in foreign nations. The United States has increased its national security missions in nearly every region of the world. Places like Iraq, Yemen and Venezuela have all been targets of US intervention, with Iran becoming the latest, most high-profile foreign operation. While war with Iran rages on, the United States may have even more ambitious plans in Ecuador. 

Ecuador, a small South American nation (whose name means equator) shares a border with Peru and Bolivia, and is often not largely involved in international affairs, particularly with the United States. This has the capacity to change now. However, in a manner that seems rare with the current status quo, Ecuador is consenting. On Tuesday, Ecuadorian and United States military forces began a joint operation domestically to combat international terrorist organizations. The statement was accompanied by footage of American and Ecuadorian troops boarding helicopters and aerial shots of Ecuadorian cities. 

All of this comes as part of a building movement to reduce the trade of drugs internationally, particularly in Latin America. This isn't the first action that Ecuador has elected to take, either. The financial war has been raging for quite a bit longer. Last month, Ecuador raised its tariff on Colombia to 50% as a way to discourage drug trafficking. Colombia responded, pulling back its energy exports to Ecuador, and raised prices for access to Colombian petroleum pipelines. Just a few goods affected by this trade dispute include: beans, rice, fats and oils, unsweetened cocoa powder, fresh bananas, ethyl alcohol and denatured spirits, as well as insecticides, fungicides and disinfectants. These tariffs have been found to pass on to consumers across both nations. Now, there are even longer-standing consequences. First is the worry that while drug trafficking is a crime in international law, it’s not an act of war, meaning the United States can’t legally use it as a justification for warfare. Similarly, U.S counternarcotics agencies have found that cartels operating across South America are not major sources of fentanyl, the drug this campaign is hoping to eliminate. Either way, the people of the United States will have another nation to watch on the news in the upcoming months. 

Read more here: 

• Vergara, Jadin, Finance Colombia

• Vaid, Dharvi, DW

• Cuevas, Eduardo, USA Today

Extemp Analysis by: Sadie Zwonitzer

Question: Will US cooperation with Ecuadorian forces ease tensions between the U.S and Latin America?

AGD: Something humorous, seeing as the topic is still largely light hearted and there are LOTS of jokes to make about Latin American leaders. 

Background: Explain how tensions have been created in the past, the audience should really know what this word means, and use that to define your substructure and answer.

Answer: No, because the root causes of the tensions are worsened.

1. Tariffs 

2. US Attacks in Caribbean

3. Anti- Diplomatic Approaches

In each of these points, we can use something akin to past-present-future to examine the issue’s root cause, and what made it worse. Ex: In the tariffs point, you can talk about how the US and Ecuador teaming up only emboldens Ecuador to place higher tariffs on Colombia, who is already affected by American tariffs, thus hurting them where they cannot afford it. This question is overall a great opportunity to potentially subvert a lay judge's expectations and score a “I didn’t know that!” moment.