The United States is tightening its grip on the South American continent. American Secretary of State Marco Rubio promised Tuesday September 8 to strengthen ties with Colombia after four years of left-wing government, on the first day of a mini-tour in Latin America intended to consolidate Washington’s influence in the region.
This trip to Colombia, before Ecuador and Peru, comes after a series of elections that brought to power right-wing leaders favorable to the United States, offering Washington the opportunity to strengthen security and economic ties and counterbalance the growing influence of China.
Alternating between English and Spanish and speaking after an interview with President Abelardo de la Espriella in the Caribbean city of Barranquilla (north), the head of American diplomacy promised to rebuild relations between these two historically allied countries, after the “distance” born under the previous government.
Abelardo de la Espriella, a hard-right supporter, succeeded Gustavo Petro in August, the first left-wing president in Colombia’s history with whom the Trump administration has had notoriously difficult relations.
Referring to “four years of very poor management”, Marco Rubio promised to “restore” ties and initiate “unprecedented cooperation” with Bogota.
See alsoLatin America: the radical shift to the right
The American official visibly relished his reunion with the Colombian president, whom he knows well, praising the “energy” and “courage” of the new leader, before the lawyer and rich businessman “lost his head and entered politics”, he joked.
Earlier in the day, he had stressed from Miami that the turn to the right in Colombia as in other Latin American countries “is part of a trend that we observe in the Western hemisphere, that of an alignment with the United States and American interests”.
The United States and Colombia also signed agreements on the supply of critical minerals and civil nuclear cooperation on Tuesday.
The Colombian leader stressed that the two countries were resuming a historic partnership “interrupted for four years” and that Bogota aspired to become Washington’s main security partner in South America.
Since taking office in early August, Abelardo de la Espriella has strengthened military cooperation with Washington and intensified operations against the country’s armed groups involved in drug trafficking.
Marco Rubio also assured that Washington “was in discussions” to relax customs duties targeting Colombia, at the request of Bogota, in order to help this country in the reconstruction after the deadly earthquake of August 10, without however making an announcement.
Desire for hegemony over Latin America
The tour by the highest-ranking American diplomat to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru from Tuesday to Thursday comes in the wake of a conservative wave in Latin America that has brought right-wing politicians close to Donald Trump to the top of power.
Since the Republican’s return to the White House in January 2025, several Latin American countries – including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Honduras – have initiated or confirmed a conservative shift.
Also read“It’s our hemisphere”: Colombia expands Trump’s zone of influence in Latin America
“We cannot go everywhere,” Marco Rubio said on Tuesday, but this mini-tour “will strengthen our presence in the hemisphere,” he assured.
Washington clearly displays its desire for hegemony on the South American continent, in the name of the “Donroe doctrine”, a contraction of the first name of the current American president and the name of James Monroe, the fifth president of the United States, who, more than two centuries ago, designated Latin America as his country’s private preserve.
This ambition is also supported in the new National Security Strategy of the United States. Marco Rubio, who is of Cuban origin, is the main architect.
This tour of Latin America also comes a few days after the United States concluded, seven months after the capture of Nicolas Maduro, an agreement which would see them take majority control of more than 65 billion barrels in Venezuela’s oil reserves.
These reserves “were under the control of China, Russia and Iran”, affirmed Marco Rubio, judging that they “will be much better in the hands of the United States”.
After Colombia, the US Secretary of State will travel to Ecuador, led by Daniel Noboa, a close ally. Washington and Quito are engaged in operations against boats linked according to them to the criminal group Los Choneros, involved in drug trafficking.
Last stop: Peru, which has been chaired since the end of July by Keiko Fujimori, a right-wing woman aligned with the policies of the American president.
With AFP
