US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Barranquilla, Colombia's largest Caribbean port city, on Tuesday as the first stop of a three-nation Latin American tour aimed at strengthening economic and security cooperation with a new generation of conservative, pro-Washington governments in the region. Rubio met with Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella, where the two sides signed agreements on critical minerals supply chains and civilian nuclear cooperation, before Rubio was set to travel on to Ecuador and Peru later in the week.
Rubio framed the tour as a restoration of natural alliances, saying the United States had a chance to build cooperation "even stronger" than before, after what he described as the damage inflicted by the previous leftist administration of Gustavo Petro — Colombia's first elected left-wing president, who left office in 2026. De la Espriella, a political newcomer who took office in August pledging a militarised approach to crime and closer US ties, said after the meeting that "Colombia wants to re-establish itself as the United States' primary partner in hemispheric security." He also indicated he would seek US support for radar and drone technology to bolster military operations.
Beyond bilateral relations, the diplomatic push is part of a broader Trump administration effort to check China's growing footprint in the region. China has become Peru's top trading partner since signing a free-trade agreement with the South American country in 2009, surpassing the United States. Rubio said Washington is seeking "good, solid" trade deals with all three nations in the near future, adding that the visits reflect "a trend of alignment with US interests" across the Western Hemisphere. The administration has also invited regional governments to join the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition, a US-backed security framework focused on combating drug trafficking and organised crime.
The tour is not without domestic controversy in Colombia. Leftist politician Iván Cepeda, an ally of former President Petro, condemned Rubio's visit as "an act of surrendering strategic aspects of our sovereignty," pointing to the minerals and energy agreements as well as De la Espriella's simultaneous decision to ease gun restrictions — a move critics linked to Trump administration influence. De la Espriella defended the gun policy, arguing that law-abiding citizens had long faced restrictions while criminals remained armed.
Why this matters: The visits signal a significant realignment in US-Latin American relations, with Washington moving to consolidate ties with a cluster of newly elected right-wing governments at a moment of intensifying geopolitical competition with China over trade, infrastructure and influence across the developing world. Colombia has also separately asked the Trump administration to reduce tariffs imposed on the country, adding an economic dimension to what is shaping up as a pivotal diplomatic moment for the hemisphere.