Marco Rubio ends Latin America tour in Peru security talks

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ended a Latin America tour in Peru on Thursday with talks focused on security cooperation against drug trafficking and organised crime.

Rubio arrived in Lima after stops in Colombia and Ecuador, where he welcomed closer coordination against criminal gangs that Washington now describes as terrorist organisations.

Ahead of the visit, Peru joined the Shield of the Americas, a US-led coalition promoted by President Donald Trump to combat drug trafficking and organised crime across the region.

Peru's President Keiko Fujimori said joining the coalition allowed Lima to receive security intelligence more quickly and act more firmly. At a press conference with Rubio, she credited the recent arrest of a Peruvian gang member in Bolivia to information supplied by the FBI.

Rubio said Latin America was a “real priority” for the Trump administration and said US involvement in the region was essential to American security, prosperity and well-being.

Peru is the world's second-biggest cocaine producer after Colombia and has faced a deterioration in security in recent years. Homicides have risen since 2018, and businesses have faced extortion by gangs.

In Quito on Wednesday, Rubio announced that Washington would designate Los Tiguerones, one of Ecuador's most powerful criminal gangs, as a terrorist organisation. The United States has already applied similar designations to other Ecuadorian gangs, Venezuela's Tren de Aragua and Mexico's Sinaloa cartel.

The tour came as several right-wing governments in the region seek closer ties with Washington. Rubio also framed Colombia's political shift under President Abelardo de la Espriella as part of a wider regional trend.

Rubio's trip also highlighted US efforts to counter the influence of China, Russia and Iran in Latin America. Ahead of his arrival in Lima, the Chinese embassy said Latin American countries had the sovereign right to choose their partners and develop cooperation based on their national interests.