Trump Ally Fights Marxist Terror Group as Freedom Sweeps Latin America

Colombia is backing President Donald Trump’s effort to build a new Western Hemisphere security alliance, Vice President José Manuel Restrepo said, while emphasizing that Colombian forces—not U.S. troops—will conduct operations against armed groups inside the country, he told News Outlet.

Restrepo spoke with News Outlet on camera days after attending a Shield of the Americas meeting with Trump and other regional leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Trump described the initiative as “the largest and most powerful alliance for economic and national security ever to convene in the Western Hemisphere.”

Trump called on participating countries to view what he described as “narco terrorists” as a shared threat and to impose sanctions on terrorist organizations designated by the United States.

Restrepo said he and Trump discussed the region’s shifting political and security environment. Colombia’s new direction comes amid a broader rightward turn in Latin America. De La Espriella’s June victory placed Colombia alongside Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia and Panama, where voter frustration over crime, economic weakness and political instability has helped drive conservative gains.

“There is a wave of freedom, a wave of democracy, a wave of free market,” Restrepo said. “There is a new momentum for the region and we have to take advantage of that momentum. That’s what I said to President Trump. If we want to keep and preserve democracy in the region, the Shield of the Americas is going to be the best opportunity to do it.”

Restrepo said Trump agreed with his assessment and expressed respect for Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella.

“Colombia is a new partner. In my opinion, it’s one of the most important partners for the United States in the region,” Restrepo said.

That relationship is already facing a major test as the two countries confront drug trafficking and Colombia’s armed groups.

In August, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Colombia had approved “joint military operations to destroy terrorists and terror networks.” He also told reporters that Washington had discussed potential joint strikes against organizations including the National Liberation Army, or ELN, which the United States designates as a terrorist group, as well as dissident factions left over from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

“Designated terrorist organizations, with partnered governments, will be legitimate targets of the United States government,” including in Colombia, Hegseth said when asked whether such operations were anticipated, according to Reuters.

However, when News Outlet asked whether joint U.S.-Colombian strikes were still under consideration, Restrepo appeared to draw a sharper boundary around the American role.

“The United States helps us on security, helps us information, helps us on technology, but the public forces of Colombia are those who are going to act in those places,” he said.

Asked whether Colombia would provide the “boots on the ground,” Restrepo responded: “We will have our group, our public forces on the ground.”

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The government’s harder line comes as Colombia faces renewed attacks by armed and drug-trafficking organizations. This week, De La Espriella deployed the military to Santa Marta after the Autodefensas Conquistadoras de la Sierra Nevada, an illegal armed group involved in drug trafficking, launched what it called an “armed strike” following the death of one of its senior leaders. Threats, roadblocks and attacks forced businesses to close and disrupted public transportation. The Colombian presidency said more than 500 soldiers and 600 police officers were sent to the city.

The administration is also moving to dismantle former President Gustavo Petro’s “total peace” strategy, which sought negotiations with multiple armed organizations. Before taking office, De La Espriella said he would roll back major parts of the policy and reinstate arrest warrants for members of illegal armed groups.

Restrepo accused the previous government of fostering “the idea of impunity” and said the new administration would instead pursue groups it identifies as terrorist organizations.

He said that when the new government took office, “around 30%” of Colombia’s regions lacked effective territorial control — a figure News Outlet has not independently verified — and said the administration was seeking to regain those areas through stronger security forces, intelligence gathering, drug eradication and extraditions.

Restrepo also argued that the same security debate should extend to the United Nations, where Colombia used its General Assembly address this week to call for reforms and an international definition of terrorism. The UN has had a global counterterrorism strategy since 2006, but member states have for decades failed to agree on a comprehensive international convention defining terrorism.

Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday also announced that the country was suspending all diplomatic relations with Iran.

“This sovereign decision aligns with the pillars guiding the Government’s foreign policy regarding national and hemispheric security, as well as the fight against transnational crime, taking into account alleged links between the Iranian government and international terrorist groups and other narcoterrorist groups that threaten the country’s security,” the Ministry wrote in a statement posted to X.

“I think this is a moment in which the United Nations have to reflect on its own future,” Restrepo told News Outlet, calling for greater efficiency and effectiveness as well as international agreement on terrorism.

“The only way to attain peace, which is one of the main objectives of the UN, is through confronting terrorism,” he said, arguing that countries need greater intelligence sharing, judicial cooperation and coordination.

With Secretary-General António Guterres set to leave office at the end of the year, Restrepo said the transition could offer the institution an opportunity to change.

“I think that the UN has a new moment and the UN has to take advantage of that opportunity,” he said.

Restrepo added that the institution also needed to address what he described as the inconsistent application of human rights standards.

“Human rights should apply to all, regardless of political considerations,” Restrepo said. “Ideology cannot decide to whom we are going to apply or not human rights.”