Marco Rubio says US seeks more economic and security ties in Latin America

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says President Donald Trump’s administration hopes to ink trade deals with Colombia, Peru and Ecuador soon, as Washington seeks greater ties with right-wing allies across Latin America.

Rubio met with Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella during a visit to Barranquilla on Tuesday, part of a three-nation trip aimed at consolidating relationships with allied governments and expanding US military involvement in the region.

“We have a lot of common interest with them, both taking on regional transnational criminal terrorism and also economic engagements,” Rubio said of the three countries before departing. “It’s part of a trend that you’re seeing in the Western Hemisphere of alignment with US and US interests.”

In addition to Colombia, the US secretary of state is set to travel later this week to Ecuador and Peru to meet with their respective presidents, Daniel Noboa and Keiko Fujimori.

Before his departure to Colombia, Rubio explained that Washington was seeking “good, solid” trade deals in the near future with all three countries.

The diplomatic tour also comes as the Trump administration seeks to check China’s growing influence in Latin America.

China, for example, signed a free-trade agreement with Peru in 2009 and has since become the South American country’s top trading partner, beating the US.

The Trump administration has also pushed for greater control over the entire Western Hemisphere as part of a policy platform informally called the “Donroe Doctrine”.