The trip to Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru takes place after a series of elections brought US-friendly right-wing leaders to power there. This gave Washington the opportunity to strengthen security and economic ties and counter growing Chinese influence.
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After talks with President Abelardo de la Espriella in Barranquilla on the Caribbean coast, M. Rubio stated that under former President Gustavo Petro, there was an unnatural “distance” between the US and Colombia.
These two countries have long been allies in the war on drugs, linking the world’s largest cocaine market and one of its biggest producers.
However, over the past four years, relations have deteriorated – G. Petro and President Donald Trump exchanged sharp remarks on social media, and the US threatened to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in security funding.
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