US says it plans $1 billion security assistance to government of Colombia's new leader

The U.S. State Department said on Friday that President Donald Trump's administration plans to ​provide $1 billion in security assistance to the government of Colombia's ‌new right-wing President Abelardo De La Espriella.

As a cornerstone of the renewed partnership, the United States, working with Congress, intends to announce $1 billion in assistance as part of a security package to support President De La Espriella’s administration in achieving shared goals, the State Department said. Colombia’s new president, who has promised a crackdown on crime and an economic revival, was sworn in on Friday. US President Donald Trump had endorsed him during the election.

The State Department said the Trump administration had welcomed Colombia into the “Shield of the Americas”, a Trump-created military alliance of right-wing leaders committed to fighting drug trafficking. Trump has sought to expand US presence and influence in Latin America, including ordering the seizure of ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in a deadly raid and authorising multiple US military strikes on boats in the Caribbean that have killed dozens. Rights advocates in the US and elsewhere have described such actions as illegal and imperial, and as extrajudicial killings, while Trump has framed them as efforts to combat drug trafficking and illegal immigration.

Trump had also been involved in a public feud with former Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a former rebel and Colombia’s first leftist president, over several issues. Petro accused Trump of being “complicit in genocide” over Israel’s assault on Gaza and called for “criminal proceedings” over US attacks on boats in the Caribbean. He also criticised Trump’s endorsement of De La Espriella during the election.