Three unexplained attacks on Ecuadorian fishing boats may have been connected to a covert U.S. operation, according to reporting by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) that has raised questions about whether the Trump administration's Operation Southern Spear extends beyond its publicly acknowledged strikes.
The incidents began with the Fiorella, which disappeared in January with eight of its 10 crew members. CFR fellow Will Freeman, who interviewed more than two dozen people in Ecuador, reviewed messages sent by the captain describing aircraft and drones near the vessel before it vanished. Survivor Cristhian Flores recalled a white plane circling the boat "like it was hunting."
