Rubio plans to push Colombia’s new leader to tackle cocaine trade

Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s first stop on a three-country trip this week is Colombia. There, he plans to deliver a strong message from President Donald Trump to the country’s new president, a staunch U.S. ally, according to two people with knowledge of the trip.

The message: Eradicate cocaine and dismantle trafficking groups.

On Tuesday morning, Rubio told reporters aboard a plane bound for Barranquilla, Colombia, that the agenda for his trip — to Colombia, Ecuador and Peru — was to speak with aligned leaders about taking on “transnational criminal terrorists” and “economic engagements.”

“We’re hoping to wrap up good, solid trade deals,” he said, noting that a priority of the Trump administration’s national security strategy has been “strengthening our presence in the Western Hemisphere.”

Along with signing deals to access countries’ resources — from critical minerals to oil — the Trump administration is embarking on a militarized anti-cartel push it has likened to the offensive against al-Qaida and the Islamic State group as it seeks to exert greater control in Latin America.

Colombia, the world’s largest cocaine producer, has in recent years seen a surge in production amid soaring global demand for the drug. That has set off a spike in violence as armed groups battle to control territory and move into neighboring countries such as Ecuador and Venezuela.

In Abelardo De La Espriella, Colombia’s recently elected president, Trump has found an eager partner.

De La Espriella, who made crushing “narco-terrorists” a central plank of his outsider campaign, has touted military operations against trafficking groups in his first month in office. As Rubio prepared to visit, the new Colombian leader posted images of body bags holding what he said online were slain group members.

Since De La Espriella was inaugurated, the United States announced a $1 billion dollar aid package for Colombia. The new president enrolled Colombia in the Trump administration’s new security alliance, the Shield of the Americas, and pledged to make the country its regional hub. He also committed to allowing joint military operations with the United States.

The secretary of state plans to press De La Espriella to eradicate hundreds of square miles of coca crops, an issue described as a priority for Trump, the people with knowledge of his trip said. The Colombian leader will also be asked to further deploy Colombia’s security forces and to target armed groups’ financial networks. The two people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic matters.

Rubio and De La Espriella are also expected to discuss Colombian military capabilities. While Colombia has long had one of the most advanced militaries in the region, experts say it has been hobbled by funding cuts, a diminished helicopter fleet and a lack of equipment such as drone protection systems.

In Trump’s second term, his administration has zeroed in on the drug trade, trying to justify deadly strikes against people the administration claims are traffickers — often without evidence — by designating them as terrorists.

The second Trump administration has added about 20 new Latin American groups to a list of foreign terrorist organizations. They include transnational gangs including Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua; dissident factions of a once-powerful rebel group in Colombia, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC; and warring drug gangs in Ecuador.

Gimena Sánchez, Andes director for the Washington Office on Latin America,, said that while civilians had paid a toll in recent years as clashes between armed groups worsened, it could become still more dangerous for them if more military forces are deployed. That could also lead to rights violations, she said.

And increasing pressure to eradicate coca crops poses health risks, Sánchez said. In 2015, Colombia stopped aerial fumigation following a World Health warning about the health effects of the herbicide used to kill coca plants, glyphosate.

Sánchez said she was concerned about the resumption of aerial fumigation, even if it was with another chemical. “It has environmental and health consequences and gets rid of people’s food crops,” she said. And to residents, she said, “it feels like it’s an invasion.”

Along with military cooperation, Sánchez said, De La Espriella might also raise during his meeting with Rubio the topic of tariffs and the possibility of the United States providing more help following last month’s devastating earthquake.

Rubio also plans to address trade relations with China during his visit to the three countries, as the United States seeks to open up more of Latin America to American investment.

Last month, Ecuador’s president, Daniel Noboa, traveled to China to meet with leaders, a move that risked rankling U.S. officials. Ecuador’s economy is deeply enmeshed with China, which financed a major hydroelectric dam and is the largest buyer of Ecuadorian shrimp. Noboa told reporters that business with China had to continue.

Peru, led by the recently elected President Keiko Fujimori, also has extensive trade ties with China.

Rubio is also expected to seek commitments from leaders related to migration and deportations, according to the people familiar with his agenda.