Rubio says US will not strike Latin cartels without allies' approval

Lima,UPDATED: Sep 11, 2026 01:42 IST

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that the United States would not take military action against narcotics traffickers in Latin American countries without the approval of its allies, even as the Trump administration continues a year-long campaign of deadly strikes against alleged drug boats in international waters. Speaking in Lima alongside new Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori, Rubio said the US had "the capacity to act unilaterally" but would rather work with partners because that was "the most effective way to do it".

His remarks came soon after Fujimori announced that Peru had joined the "Shield of the Americas", a US-led coalition of countries in the region for joint military operations against drug cartels. Rubio's visit to Peru was part of a wider South America tour that also took him to Colombia and Ecuador, as the Trump administration stepped up its counternarcotics and immigration push across the Western Hemisphere.

Rubio said, "We're not going to do anything that our partners don't ask us to do. We don't want to do less than what you ask of us, but we're not going to do more than what you ask of us." During his fifth trip to Latin America, aimed at strengthening the administration's security ties with conservative leaders, Rubio also acknowledged that the US strategy against drug trafficking in Latin American waters was evolving.

He said the administration would work with allied countries and act in line with their laws, but added that the military would "still blow up ships if need be" and that each case would be "a strike-by-strike or operation-by-operation determination". After those comments on Wednesday, the US military said it had carried out another deadly strike against what it called "narcoterrorists" on a boat in the Caribbean Sea, killing three people.

In recent months, the US military has mainly been carrying out joint operations with Ecuador in its territorial waters. In those operations, people have been removed from vessels accused of helping drug trafficking and handed over to Ecuadorian authorities. Rubio also visited Colombia this week, which recently joined the Shield of the Americas under new President Abelardo de la Espriella.

Standing with Rubio, Fujimori said that "a new era in relations between Peru and the United States is beginning". She stressed that Peru's "sovereignty remains intact" and said the country would continue trading with nations in Asia and Europe. On Peru joining the coalition, she said it "will allow us to obtain information more quickly and act decisively" against cross-border crime. Referring to US support for Peru in the 1990s, she added, "we have already shown what two countries can achieve by working together".

Like leaders in Colombia and Ecuador, Fujimori has made the fight against crime a priority, especially extortion and murder. Official data show reports of extortion rose from 2,421 in 2019 to 26,734 in 2025. At the end of August, Peru declared a 60-day state of emergency in Lima and the port of Callao because of rising crime, and set up a committee of officials to coordinate the police. It also declared a state of emergency in five prisons to control access and prevent escapes.

Peru is one of the world's leading producers of cocaine, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says it is the second-largest cultivator of coca leaf, the raw material for cocaine, after Colombia. Rubio's trip came as the Trump administration kept its focus on the Western Hemisphere even as it has launched a war against Iran. Trump has repeatedly spoken of reviving the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine, asserting US primacy in the Americas with a focus on drugs, migration and countering growing Chinese influence in the region.

The Chinese Embassy in Peru said on Tuesday that the "Western Hemisphere is nobody's backyard" in a statement issued on the eve of Rubio's visit, though it did not name him. China said Latin American countries had the "sovereign right to freely choose their partners" and expressed willingness to work with Peru and other countries in the region.

Rubio's visit also drew protests in Lima, where Peru has a long history of dealing with left-wing insurgencies and still has many people sympathetic to such causes. As he arrived late on Wednesday, hundreds of protesters shouted "Yankees out of Peru", while Communist Party members waved red flags and carried a banner with Rubio's face. "Marco Rubio arrived in Peru today, and what he wants is for Peru to be his colony," Carmen Espinoza told The Associated Press. "That's why we're here protesting, rejecting the visit of an enemy of Peru." The protest remained peaceful and was watched by police officers trying to prevent any disturbance. Another protester, Soledad Lozano, said Peru "is not the backyard of any country in the world" and argued that Peruvians should decide "with whom we ally ourselves and what agreements we make".

Rubio's Peru visit underlined the administration's effort to deepen security ties in South America, with Peru joining a new US-led coalition against drug cartels even as Washington says any military action will depend on what partner countries ask of it.

With PTI Inputs

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