On March 6, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted a video online of a U.S.-Ecuador joint strike. He was very proud of it. He wrote that the U.S. was "bombing Narco Terrorists on land." He was wrong. Catastrophically, violently, inexcusably wrong.
"Bombing Narco Terrorists on land." — Pete Hegseth, posting the strike video online on March 6, 2026.
A New York Times investigation found the strike destroyed a dairy farm in the remote Ecuadorian village of San Martín in the Amazon jungle. There were no narco terrorists. There were farmworkers. Source: The New York Times, Democracy Now!
It Gets Worse.
The bombing was bad enough. But what happened before it is the part that should make everyone's blood run cold.
Local residents told the Times that Ecuadorian soldiers arrived by helicopter three days before the bombing. They interrogated four farmworkers. They beat them. They set fire to shelters and sheds. And then, three days later, they came back and bombed what was left.
Three days before the strike, soldiers arrived, beat the farmworkers, and burned the shelters. Then they called in the bombs. Hegseth posted the video and called it a win.
This Is a Pattern, Not a Mistake.
This isn't the first time the Trump administration has targeted the wrong people in its "war on narco terrorists." Since last September, U.S. military strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have killed at least 163 people — with the Pentagon offering no evidence that any of the boats targeted were actually carrying drugs.
163 people dead. The Pentagon's evidence? Zero.
Pete Hegseth is the Secretary of Defense of the United States. He posted a victory lap video about bombing a dairy farm. He has not corrected the record. He has not apologized. He has not acknowledged the farmworkers who were beaten before the bombs fell.
This is who is running the military. This is the standard of evidence required to drop bombs in this administration. If your farm is near a jungle and someone decides it looks suspicious from a helicopter, congratulations — you're a narco terrorist now.
This post distinguishes between documented facts, allegations, and analysis. Where motive, intent, corruption, or illegality remains disputed in the public record, the text attributes that judgment to court findings, official records, direct quotes, or the reporting linked below.
- New York Times: Investigation found March 6 strike destroyed a dairy farm in San Martín, Ecuador. Soldiers arrived three days prior, interrogated and beat farmworkers, burned shelters.
- Democracy Now!: At least 163 killed total in Caribbean/Pacific strikes since September with zero drug evidence presented by Pentagon.