United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio is embarking on a three-country tour of South America this week, meeting with newly elected leaders in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru whose political alignments closely mirror those of President Donald Trump’s administration.
The State Department confirmed Rubio will travel to Colombia on Tuesday to meet with President Abelardo de la Espriella, then proceed to Ecuador to meet President Daniel Noboa before visiting Peru, where he will meet with newly elected leader Keiko Fujimori.
Officials stated the discussions will focus on several key areas, including US support for Colombia’s earthquake response following a devastating disaster last month that killed at least 330 people and displaced thousands. The trip also comes as Colombia has increased cooperation with Washington by joining what Trump has termed the “Shield of the Americas” initiative, a 19-member group that has pledged to use lethal military force against what they describe as narco-terrorist networks.
Rubio’s visit represents part of a broader rightward shift across Latin America that has brought Trump-aligned leaders to power in multiple countries. Beyond the three nations Rubio will visit, Trump also backed Honduran President Nasry Asfura, who won office in November, and Bolivia’s Rodrigo Paz, who took power in October.
The Trump administration has also maintained close ties with Argentina’s Javier Milei, who assumed office in 2023, and El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele, who became leader in 2019. These partnerships reflect what Rubio has called an “extraordinary achievement” in the region’s conservative transformation.
Colombia’s new president has diverged from his predecessor Gustavo Petro’s leftist stance, publicly praising US military operations against alleged drug traffickers in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. Rights organizations have condemned these strikes, which have killed at least 227 people, calling them extrajudicial killings. Families of those killed have argued the targets were fishermen rather than drug smugglers.
Ecuador’s Interior Minister John Reimberg recently defended similar US operations against vessels allegedly carrying drugs in an interview with Teleamazonas broadcaster. Peru’s Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former leader Alberto Fujimori, has also committed to closer US ties and a military crackdown on criminal organizations.
The diplomatic push comes amid other regional controversies, including a controversial agreement between the US and Venezuela’s interim leader Delcy Rodriguez regarding access to Venezuelan oil reserves. Meanwhile, Cuba has rejected any talks with Washington despite ongoing restrictions on the island nation.
Brazil and Mexico remain the only major regional powers still governed by leftist leaders. Brazil will hold presidential elections in October, when Flavio Bolsonaro seeks to unseat current president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Trump has maintained strong support for the Bolsonaro family, having invited Flavio to the White House in May despite his father being sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempting to cling to power.
Colombia’s earthquake response seems like the only genuine aid here. The rest feels like pure geopolitical maneuvering for influence.
Are we sure these new leaders aren’t just puppets? The human rights concerns regarding those extrajudicial strikes are deeply troubling.
It is fascinating to see how quickly the political tide has turned in South America. The shift away from leftist leadership is quite dramatic.