U.S. pressures Latin American members of anti-drug alliance, including Ecuador, to leave int’l court

United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is calling on countries of the Coalition Against the Cartels of the Americas (A3C) to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), of which Ecuador is a member. Prominent legal experts warn against such a withdrawal.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio

During a visit to Panama on Wednesday, Hegseth claimed that the “international left” is trying to “illegally impose the jurisdiction of the ICC over military personnel and operations of the U.S. and its partners,” adding, “I strongly urge every member of the A3C to leave the ICC and reject its attempts to strip their governments and courts of their sovereignty.”

Hegseth’s comments follow those by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday vowed to “dismantle” the ICC and urged other countries to join the effort as the Trump administration significantly escalates its campaign against the global institution.

Rubio accused the ICC of “waging a war against our country, not with bullets or missiles,” but with “the force of so-called international law.”

The administration’s ire against the ICC goes back to President Donald Trump’s first term, when it targeted the ICC for seeking to investigate alleged war crimes committed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan. The second Trump administration has imposed a slew of sanctions against ICC officials for their attempts to investigate the U.S. and Israel.

However, the State Department-led, “whole-of-government campaign” to dismantle the ICC is a significant escalation, particularly as it seeks to pressure countries around the world to join and threatens potential cuts to US assistance for those who don’t. “Nations that refuse to reject the ICC’s false authority while relying on US assistance are likely to come under increased scrutiny,” a State Department official said Monday.

The statement added: “We will watch with interest which nations join ranks with us against this threat to Americans who are willing to risk their lives to protect others.”

What is the International Criminal Court?
The ICC was created in 1998 to “investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute people accused of serious international crimes including genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and unwarranted crimes of aggression.”

One of ICC’s “key objectives is to fight global impunity and serve as a court of last resort.” Its intention, according to its mission statement, is not to replace national courts, but compliment them.

Ecuador professor and constitutional scholar José Chalco cautions that the path of withdrawal from the ICC is not simple. “It cannot be ordered by one person — the president,” he says. “First, it requires agreement by the National Assembly and the Constitutional Court.”

Chalco cautions against leaving the ICC. “In Latin America, the U.S. interest is narrowly focused on its so-called war on drugs and related military actions but the ICC is involved in a wide-range of international issues. It would be a mistake to withdraw from the court to comply with the interests of one country.”