LatinNews Daily - 29 June 2026

Ecuador: On 25 June Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa met Kristi Noem, the US envoy for the Shield of the Americas and former secretary of homeland security (2025-2026), in New York. According to a social media post by the Ecuadorean presidency, the two discussed strengthening cooperation between both countries in areas including security. The meeting comes three days after the US and Ecuador signed an agreement named the ‘Secure Border’ project which is aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation to combat transnational crime, narcotrafficking, illegal immigration and other “threats which affect border areas”, according to a social media post by the US embassy in Ecuador. The US embassy noted that the agreement, which relates to Ecuador’s northern border with Colombia, integrates Ecuador’s police, armed forces, customs authorities (Senae), and migration authorities “in a joint effort to improve coordination, the exchange of information and regional security”. The document was signed by the chargé d’affaires at the US embassy in Ecuador, Lawrence Petroni, along with Ecuador’s Defence Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo. The signing of the document follows the launch of joint anti-drug trafficking operations in March, while Noboa went on an official visit to the US between 11 and 15 June, during which he met US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth to discuss regional security cooperation.