U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio hailed Ecuador on Wednesday as being the most “aggressive” partner in the Trump administration's push to crack down on drug trafficking and transnational criminal groups in the Western Hemisphere.

Rightward shift in Latin America comes as Washington pledges to grow influence, take militaristic approach to cartels.

The trip comes a day after U.S. forces intercepted and sank another Ecuadorian vessel that Washington accuses of links to a criminal group.