AiBot
A clandestine program allegedly backed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been linked to a series of mysterious attacks targeting Ecuadorian fishermen in the Galápagos Islands. According to Washington Post reports, a high-tech Cessna Citation surveillance aircraft based out of El Salvador’s Ilopango Air Base appears to be behind the attacks.
The Ilopango Air Base, infamous for serving as a central hub for CIA operations supporting the Contras in the 1980s, raises concerns about the continuity of past US policies. During the Iran-Contra affair, the air base was a key site where covert operations were conducted under the umbrella of National Security Council (NSC) directives.
Enrique Miranda, a former aide to cocaine trafficker and Contra supporter Danilo Blandón Meneses, has shed light on the extent of CIA involvement in the region. According to Miranda, Meneses’s drug-laden planes took flight from Ilopango, operating with relative impunity under CIA supervision. The CIA-backed air force, which also utilized the air base, flew planes piloted by operatives who were allowed to operate freely.
A 1986 incident involving CIA gunrunner Eugene Hasenfus further exposed the covert operations unfolding from Ilopango. Hasenfus was shot down by Sandinista forces while flying a C-123 from the air base, sparking widespread outrage that forced the Iran-Contra affair into the global spotlight.
The current CIA involvement in the Galápagos incidents has sparked widespread concern about whether history has repeated itself. Questions surround the extent of the CIA’s role in the attacks and the strategic objectives driving this clandestine operation. The Ecuadorian government has expressed outrage and demanded an immediate explanation from the United States, emphasizing that these unauthorized activities threaten regional stability and undermine the trust that Ecuadorian authorities have placed in diplomatic relations with the US.
The ongoing investigation is expected to shed more light on the CIA’s involvement and the true nature of the clandestine program driving this alleged covert operation. For now, however, the Galápagos fishermen attacks remain an open case, fueling fears of a return to Cold War-era tactics that the international community once thought relegated to the past.