Rubio hails Colombia's new pro-Trump leader De la Espriella on first stop of Latin American tour
France 24
F
France 24
Original Source
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio began a Latin American tour meeting Colombia's newly inaugurated far-right President Abelardo De La Espriella to boost security cooperation and counter drug trafficking. Washington is reasserting its influence across the region amid growing alignment with US interests among several nations.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday he hoped to see the US security relationship with Colombia rebound under the country's newly inaugurated far-right president, as Rubio began a tour of Latin American countries whose leaders are closely aligned with US President Donald Trump's administration.
Washington is stepping up security engagement with the region on issues including migration and drug trafficking as the US pushes to reassert its influence across Latin America.
Under the second Trump administration, the US military has carried out deadly strikes on small boats in the Caribbean accused of carrying drugs, seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in an armed raid and enforced a crippling fuel blockade on Cuba.
At their meeting in the coastal city of Barranquilla, Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella said he and Rubio discussed security cooperation against drug trafficking, improved economic ties and an expanded role for Colombia in what he called "bulletproofing the hemisphere". He said Colombia would be an ally to the US on neighbouring Venezuela.
"Colombia wants to newly consolidate itself as the principal hemispheric partner for the United States on security," said De La Espriella, who took office on August 7.
Read moreGovernment air strikes kill 20 alleged guerrillas in Colombia, president says
Rubio told reporters that the Pentagon and Colombia's security forces were discussing new cooperation and Colombia's equipment requests. He attributed fraught ties in recent years to De La Espriella's predecessor, the left-wing Gustavo Petro, who frequently clashed with Trump.
Rubio said Washington hoped to restore the cooperation and "perhaps to build upon it".
"And I think you have a president here now that is very interested in making that happen," he said
De La Espriella said Colombia sought US help in the form of aircraft including drones, radar, anti-money-laundering efforts and other security tools for its fight against drug gangs.
Rubio agreed Colombia needed help with equipment, intelligence and training but did not specify what the US would provide.
The top diplomat lavished praise on De la Espriella as "a man of strength", joking he had known the Colombian leader long before he "lost his mind and went into politics".
He said it was unusual to visit a country and meet a head of state he had known personally long before reaching office.
Rubio will travel later this week to Ecuador to meet President Daniel Noboa and then to Peru for talks with President Keiko Fujimori, who was inaugurated on July 28.
The visit comes at a moment of growing US ideological alignment with all three nations, which Rubio hailed as part of a trend in Latin America toward support for Washington's goals.
"I think it's part of a trend that you're seeing in the Western Hemisphere of alignment with the US and US interests," he said.
After the quake
The US also hopes to conclude trade deals with Colombia, Ecuador and Peru in the near future, Rubio said before departing the US on Tuesday.
Colombia is seeking relief from US tariffs of 12.5 percent that took effect in July, which officials have said could affect Colombian exports.
De La Espriella, a millionaire former criminal defence lawyer and businessman who refers to himself as "The Tiger", was endorsed by Trump, and has asked the US leader to suspend the tariff after a powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the west of the country in August.
Read moreWho is Abelardo de la Espriella, the far‑right Trump fan who could lead Colombia?
De La Espriella said on Tuesday he hoped to cooperate with Washington on what he called a new "Plan Homeland", a reference to "Plan Colombia", a joint programme against drug trafficking that began in the late 1990s under which the US provided billions of dollars to Colombia.
Colombia will fumigate plantations of coca, the base ingredient in cocaine, destroy cocaine laboratories and go after drug bosses, De La Espriella added.
His country is willing to meet annual targets in the fight against drug trafficking, he said, an apparent reference to Trump's spats with De La Espriella's left-wing predecessor over cocaine production.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AFP)
Washington is stepping up security engagement with the region on issues including migration and drug trafficking as the US pushes to reassert its influence across Latin America.
Under the second Trump administration, the US military has carried out deadly strikes on small boats in the Caribbean accused of carrying drugs, seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in an armed raid and enforced a crippling fuel blockade on Cuba.
At their meeting in the coastal city of Barranquilla, Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella said he and Rubio discussed security cooperation against drug trafficking, improved economic ties and an expanded role for Colombia in what he called "bulletproofing the hemisphere". He said Colombia would be an ally to the US on neighbouring Venezuela.
"Colombia wants to newly consolidate itself as the principal hemispheric partner for the United States on security," said De La Espriella, who took office on August 7.
Read moreGovernment air strikes kill 20 alleged guerrillas in Colombia, president says
Rubio told reporters that the Pentagon and Colombia's security forces were discussing new cooperation and Colombia's equipment requests. He attributed fraught ties in recent years to De La Espriella's predecessor, the left-wing Gustavo Petro, who frequently clashed with Trump.
Rubio said Washington hoped to restore the cooperation and "perhaps to build upon it".
"And I think you have a president here now that is very interested in making that happen," he said
De La Espriella said Colombia sought US help in the form of aircraft including drones, radar, anti-money-laundering efforts and other security tools for its fight against drug gangs.
Rubio agreed Colombia needed help with equipment, intelligence and training but did not specify what the US would provide.
The top diplomat lavished praise on De la Espriella as "a man of strength", joking he had known the Colombian leader long before he "lost his mind and went into politics".
He said it was unusual to visit a country and meet a head of state he had known personally long before reaching office.
Rubio will travel later this week to Ecuador to meet President Daniel Noboa and then to Peru for talks with President Keiko Fujimori, who was inaugurated on July 28.
The visit comes at a moment of growing US ideological alignment with all three nations, which Rubio hailed as part of a trend in Latin America toward support for Washington's goals.
"I think it's part of a trend that you're seeing in the Western Hemisphere of alignment with the US and US interests," he said.
After the quake
The US also hopes to conclude trade deals with Colombia, Ecuador and Peru in the near future, Rubio said before departing the US on Tuesday.
Colombia is seeking relief from US tariffs of 12.5 percent that took effect in July, which officials have said could affect Colombian exports.
De La Espriella, a millionaire former criminal defence lawyer and businessman who refers to himself as "The Tiger", was endorsed by Trump, and has asked the US leader to suspend the tariff after a powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck the west of the country in August.
Read moreWho is Abelardo de la Espriella, the far‑right Trump fan who could lead Colombia?
De La Espriella said on Tuesday he hoped to cooperate with Washington on what he called a new "Plan Homeland", a reference to "Plan Colombia", a joint programme against drug trafficking that began in the late 1990s under which the US provided billions of dollars to Colombia.
Colombia will fumigate plantations of coca, the base ingredient in cocaine, destroy cocaine laboratories and go after drug bosses, De La Espriella added.
His country is willing to meet annual targets in the fight against drug trafficking, he said, an apparent reference to Trump's spats with De La Espriella's left-wing predecessor over cocaine production.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AFP)
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Source: France 24
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