Rubio embarks on Latin America tour to cement US influence

BARRANQUILLA, COLOMBIA:

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio set off for Colombia on Tuesday, the first stop on a Latin American tour designed to bolster pro-US leaders and cement influence over the region.

The visit comes weeks after the election of Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella, a flamboyant 48-year-old millionaire, who was elected in June on an anti-establishment and pro-Trump platform.

"I think it's part of a trend that you're seeing in the Western Hemisphere of alignment with the US and US interests," Rubio said as he departed from Miami.

Rubio will also visit Ecuador and Peru, but not before meeting the new Colombian president in his stronghold of Barranquilla, a Caribbean port city more famous for being pop star Shakira's hometown than as a venue for geopolitics.

De la Espriella defeated a left-wing candidate in June's runoff election on the promise of ending peace talks with drug-running armed groups and tackling crime.

Since then, Colombia has stepped up air assaults on these groups and authorized joint military operations with the United States.

Colombia has also joined the "Shield of the Americas," a coalition of countries led by Trump to combat drug trafficking in the region.

Rubio said a focus of the trip would be "taking on regional, transnational criminal terrorists and also economic engagement. We're hoping to wrap up good, solid trade deals."

Colombia's Foreign Minister Omar Bula said Rubio's visit would help start "rebuilding a strategic alliance with the United States" after ties atrophied under Colombia's previous leftist president, Gustavo Petro.

In Barranquilla, Rubio will also discuss reconstruction after an August 10 earthquake that struck the country's coffee-growing region, killing more than 330 people, according to State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott.

The quake destroyed schools, hospitals and scores of residential buildings across several towns and cities.