• Investigation points to the CIA being behind Ecuador fishing boat attacks
  • Eight fishermen remain missing
  • Survivors reported being detained

The CIA would be behind attacks on Ecuador fishing boats that occurred in early 2026, reportedly part of a covert CIA operation, according to an investigation published by The Washington Post linking the incidents to a secret program authorized by the United States.

  • Why it matters: The allegations include the disappearance of the fishing boat Fiorella and eight people, drone attacks on other vessels, and testimony from survivors who say they were detained by armed men identified as Americans.

The Washington Post Links the Attacks to a CIA “Covert Action” Program

An anonymous source familiar with the events told The Washington Post that the attacks were part of a “covert action” program, a type of secret operation conducted abroad with presidential authorization in which Washington does not publicly acknowledge its involvement.

The newspaper, however, noted that important questions remain about the exact extent of the CIA’s involvement and who directly carried out the operations.

The incidents under investigation include the January disappearance of the Ecuadorian fishing boat Fiorella and much of its crew, as well as drone attacks in March against La Negra Francisca Duarte II and Don Maca near the Galápagos Islands.

The Washington Post reported that the alleged operation was separate from the anti-drug campaign that the United States has been conducting since last September in the Caribbean and Pacific, where dozens of alleged drug boats have been destroyed and more than 200 people have died.

Survivors Said Armed Men Detained Them After the Fishing Boat Attacks

Ecuadorian authorities have not confirmed the allegations, while the Pentagon and the US Coast Guard have denied any involvement, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a report released in July on security cooperation between Ecuador and the United States.

Thirteen survivors interviewed by HRW said that “after the attacks, they were detained aboard a boat by people they identified as armed US citizens wearing military-style uniforms.”

The fishermen interviewed by The Washington Post also described drone attacks on their vessels and said they were subsequently transferred to another nearby boat.

According to their accounts, armed men handcuffed them and covered their heads before taking them to El Salvador, from where they were later returned to Ecuador without receiving an explanation.

The survivors maintain that they have no ties to drug trafficking.

A Mysterious Plane Flew From El Salvador Toward the Area of the Incidents

The journalistic investigation also identified aircraft movements that could provide new clues about what happened around the Ecuadorian boats.

According to The Washington Post, during each incident, an aircraft equipped with specialized surveillance technology flew from El Salvador toward the fishing vessels.

“Details about the aircraft and the pattern of its flights before the incidents suggest that it could be linked to the CIA’s secret program,” the newspaper reported.

Radio transmissions also indicate that an aircraft using a US registration number later landed in El Salvador and traveled toward a military area of Ilopango International Airport.

However, records from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) do not show any aircraft registered under that number, adding to the questions surrounding the flights.

CIA Remains Silent as Calls for Answers Grow

The CIA declined to comment on the findings published by The Washington Post, and it remains unclear whether private contractors or authorities from other countries also participated in the incidents under investigation.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have denounced both the disappearance of the eight fishermen from the Fiorella and the attacks on the other two vessels, and have called on the governments of the United States and Ecuador to provide answers.

US Democratic Lawmakers Also Demand Answers About What Happened

El Salvador’s role is also drawing attention because of the location from which the aircraft identified in the investigation allegedly operated: Ilopango, a small terminal outside San Salvador that served during the 1980s as a center for Washington’s covert operations related to Nicaragua.

For now, the revelations from The Washington Post raise new questions about who ordered and carried out the attacks, what their objective was, and what happened to the eight people who disappeared from the Fiorella.

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SOURCE: EFE / The Washington Post