Rubio heads to Ecuador, Colombia, Peru after right-wing victories in region

United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio is travelling to three South American countries whose lately elected leaders have closely aligned with President Donald Trump's administration.

Key points

• When Flavio Bolsonaro, a son of former right-wing leader Jair Bolsonaro, seeks to unseat Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, brazilians will go to the polls in October.
• Rubio will travel to Colombia on Tuesday to meet with newly elected President Abelardo de la Espriella.
• In August, Colombia's de la Espriella upped cooperation with the US by joining the Trump administration's so-called "Shield of the Americas".
• Unlike his predecessor, leftist Gustavo Petro, de la Espriella has additionally praised US military strikes on alleged drug smugglers in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
• Ecuador's Interior Minister John Reimberg defended the US strikes on vessels allegedly carrying drugs in an interview with broadcaster Teleamazonas last week.

Rubio will travel to Colombia on Tuesday to meet with newly elected President Abelardo de la Espriella. He will then visit Ecuador to meet with President Daniel Noboa before going to Peru, where he will meet with another newly elected leader, Keiko Fujimori.

Meanwhile, the State Department has not yet published a more in-depth agenda for the trip, saying only that Rubio will discuss "US support for Colombia's earthquake response; enhanced cooperation in the shared fight against narcoterrorism, which threatens our hemisphere; and the benefits of deeper commercial relationships between our countries".

For context, the trip comes against the backdrop of a rightward shift in Latin America that has seen a number of Trump-aligned leaders take office. Beyond the three countries, Trump additionally backed Honduran President Nasry Asfura. This person won the presidency in November, and Bolivia's Rodrigo Paz, who won in October.

Beyond the new leaders, Trump has additionally closely aligned with Argentina's Javier Milei. This person took office in 2023, and El Salvador's Nayib Bukele, who became the leader in 2019. US influence over Western Hemisphere.

Rubio's visit comes as the Trump administration has pledged to assert more influence over the Western Hemisphere in what Trump has referred to as the "Donroe Doctrine", a reference to the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine that resisted European interference in the Americas.

While broadly reframing efforts to combat drug trafficking as a war against "narco-terrorists", it has shifted to a militaristic approach to security in Latin American countries.

For context, the 19 members of the group have jointly pledged a "commitment to using lethal military force to destroy the sinister cartels and terrorist networks".

Unlike his predecessor, leftist Gustavo Petro, de la Espriella has additionally praised US military strikes on alleged drug smugglers in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. At least 227 individuals have been killed in those strikes, in what rights groups have condemned as extrajudicial killings.

Family members of those killed have charged that the targets were fishermen, not drug smugglers.

For context, the US has proven a major supporter for de la Espriella after a devastating earthquake in Colombia last month in which at least 330 residents were killed and thousands left homeless.

In March, the US military confirmed it was collaborating with Ecuador, under Noboa's leadership, to target drug trafficking groups in the country.

Peru's Fujimori, the daughter of former leader Alberto Fujimori. This person notoriously dissolved the country's Congress and Supreme Court to consolidate power during his administration from 1990 to 2000, has additionally pledged closer ties with the US and a military crackdown on criminal groups.

Rubio's visit comes after the US confirmed a controversial agreement with Venezuela's interim leader, Delcy Rodriguez. The accord, struck after the January 3 US abduction of Venezuela's ex-President Nicolas Maduro, grants US firms access to 65 billion barrels of crude oil reserves over the next 100 years.

It additionally comes as Washington has continued to up its pressure campaign against Cuba, with Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez on Monday rejecting any negotiations with the US despite its ongoing fuel blockade of the island.

Brazil and Mexico remain the only regional powers with leftist leaders. Rubio has called the region's conservative lurch an "extraordinary achievement".

Notably, the shift has accompanied the strengthening of ties between Israel and a number of Latin American countries since Trump took office.

Trump has remained a staunch ally of the elder Bolsonaro. This person has been sentenced to 27 years in prison for leading a conspiracy to hold onto power.

Meanwhile, the US president has additionally shown robust backing for the younger Bolsonaro, including inviting him to the White House in May.

In short, rubio heads to Ecuador, Colombia, Peru after right is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.