A hemisphere that delivers

This week, I will travel to Barranquilla, Quito, and Lima to underscore a clear and achievable commitment on behalf of President Donald Trump and the American people: The United States delivers. We are working directly with Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru to build true security, foster economic growth, and ensure that the future of our region remains under the sovereign control of each country.

We deliver on security because narco-terrorist organizations not only traffic drugs, but also fuel massive illegal immigration and human trafficking, corrupt public institutions, recruit children, destroy families, and discourage genuine investment. Together, our governments are working shoulder to shoulder with law enforcement agencies to defeat the criminal cartels that have ravaged our hemisphere. Putting an end to illegal immigration has already prevented them from obtaining tens of billions of dollars a year, and our cooperation to eradicate drug trafficking will further limit the resources they have to carry out their evil deeds.

We are succeeding in terms of prosperity because economic development creates the conditions conducive to lasting security, discourages participation in illicit economies controlled by criminal networks, and enables mutual benefit among our countries.

For too long, actors from outside the hemisphere—backed by foreign states, specifically China—have entered our region with promises that mask their predatory practices. All too often, their involvement takes the form of opaque contracts, unsustainable debt, worker exploitation, and environmental destruction. When a country's critical assets fall under the ownership or control of another nation, countries lose their sacred right to determine their own destiny and face serious threats to their national sovereignty, data privacy, and economic independence.

The United States offers a clear and transparent alternative. U.S. companies and business leaders invest directly in their national economy, develop their local workforce, and support surrounding communities.

Colombia: Tangible investments and renewed security

Together, the Trump and De La Espriella administrations are revitalizing the 200-year friendship that unites the United States and Colombia to restore its rightful place as a key pillar of security and economic cooperation in our region.

Instead of offering empty promises, our economic collaboration focuses on direct investments that improve daily life and create formal jobs for the Colombian people. Through our upcoming "Dialogue for Bilateral Prosperity," we are mobilizing U.S. private-sector investment to channel it toward Colombia's energy, logistics, and transportation infrastructure. U.S. companies operating in Colombia are actively expanding the supply of well-paying jobs, offering a clear economic alternative to the informal and illicit economies exploited by criminal networks, and helping Colombia overcome the challenges associated with El Niño.

We complement these economic tools directly with security support. U.S. assistance, which includes training, equipment, and operational support, helps Colombian authorities consolidate territorial control in areas that have historically been dominated by narco-terrorist organizations that sow terror in communities across Colombia, the United States, and the rest of our region.

The United States steps up because that is how true partners act. Following the devastating earthquake that struck Colombia on August 10, the Trump Administration immediately provided more than $27 million in emergency assistance.

In turn, Colombia's new stance on border security and combating illegal immigration serves as a model for regional cooperation. The alliances currently taking shape in Ecuador and Peru are based on a model that Colombia spent two decades proving can work.

Ecuador: Direct action against cartels and economic growth

In Ecuador, I will meet with President Daniel Noboa to advance our joint campaign against transnational organized crime. President Noboa is confronting criminal organizations that previously operated as if they were untouchable. But they are not.

Following the Trump Administration's formal designation of the Ecuadorian gangs Los Lobos, Los Choneros and the Chone Killers as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) last year, we have established critical military coordination, public safety, and intelligence capabilities through the Shield of the Americas and the Coalition Against the Cartels of the Americas.

We are also modernizing our bilateral extradition treaty with Ecuador so that fugitive criminals face prompt and inevitable justice.

As security improves, U.S. commercial activity is expanding. Some of the leading U.S. technology companies, such as Google, Palantir, and SpaceX, are establishing operations and digital infrastructure in Ecuador. These investments translate into high-speed connectivity, secure data analytics, and technology jobs for Ecuadorian workers, without compromising national security or user privacy.

Peru: Two centuries of strategic economic collaboration

In Peru, we have high hopes for working with the new Fujimori administration to carry our 200 years of shared history into the future. We are coordinating efforts to protect our hemisphere from transnational and regional threats, welcoming Peru—now an important non-NATO ally—into the Shield of the Americas.

Our economic partnership with Peru is built on transparent, high-value investments in key strategic sectors. Following the signing of our Memorandum of Understanding on Critical Minerals in February 2026, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) allocated $5 million directly to Peru's mining sector, which generate tax revenue and local jobs in that country.

Meanwhile, projects backed by the Chinese Communist Party circumvent Peru's legal frameworks and threaten transparency and data security, the U.S. private sector is bringing open, market-driven investments that preserve Peruvian ownership and protect the security interests of our hemisphere.

A hemisphere that delivers

Every nation in our region has the sovereign right to choose its partners. We ask only that the choice be made with absolute transparency, and that all of its terms be visible to the public.

In cases where this was not the case, the pattern has been clear: foreign state-owned companies take control of strategic assets and leave behind debt, surveillance, labor exploitation, and weakened sovereignty.

The U.S. proposal is radically different. It is transparent, reliable, and mutually beneficial. It offers trusted technology. It involves clear and enforceable contracts. Private-sector investments that build local capacity, create real jobs, and respect countries' independence.

That is a hemisphere that delivers.