Colombia backs Trump security push while limiting U.S. role in anti-gang operations

UNITED NATIONS — Colombian Vice President José Manuel Restrepo said his government supports President Donald Trump’s effort to build a new security alliance across the Western Hemisphere, while making clear that operations inside Colombia will be led by Colombian forces rather than the U.S. military. He spoke to Fox News Digital in an on-camera interview after taking part in a Shield of the Americas meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Trump described the gathering as the “largest and most powerful alliance for economic and national security ever to convene in the Western Hemisphere.” He called on participating countries to treat what he labeled “narco terrorists” as shared threats and to impose sanctions on U.S.-designated terrorist organizations. Restrepo said he discussed the region’s shifting political and security landscape directly with Trump.

The discussion comes as Latin America is undergoing a broader political shift, with De La Espriella’s June victory adding Colombia to a list of countries, including Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia and Panama, that have moved to the right. That realignment has been driven in part by public frustration over crime, weak economies and political instability. “There is a wave of freedom, a wave of democracy, a wave of free market,” Restrepo said.

He said he told Trump that the region was entering a new phase and should seize the moment. “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,” he said. Restrepo added that Trump conveyed respect for Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella and described Colombia as “a new partner” and one of Washington’s most important partners in the region.

The partnership is already being tested by the fight against drug trafficking and armed groups. In August, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Colombia had approved “joint military operations to destroy terrorists and terror networks,” and said Washington had discussed possible joint strikes against the National Liberation Army, or ELN, and remnants of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Hegseth said designated terrorist organizations, working with partner governments, would be legitimate targets of the United States government.

Restrepo appeared to narrow the scope of American involvement when asked by Fox News Digital whether joint strikes remained under consideration. “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. When asked directly whether there would be “boots on the ground,” he replied: “We will have our group, our public forces on the ground.”

Colombia is confronting renewed violence from armed and drug-trafficking groups. This week, De La Espriella ordered the military into Santa Marta after the Autodefensas Conquistadoras de la Sierra Nevada, an illegal armed group involved in drug trafficking, answered the killing of one of its senior leaders with an “armed strike,” threats, roadblocks and attacks that closed businesses and disrupted public transit. According to the Colombian presidency, more than 500 soldiers and 600 police officers were sent in.

The new administration is also moving to undo former President Gustavo Petro’s “total peace” policy, which sought negotiations with several armed organizations. Before taking office, De La Espriella said he would dismantle key parts of that approach and restore arrest warrants against members of illegal armed groups. Restrepo accused the previous government of fostering “the idea of impunity” and said the current one intends to confront groups it regards as terrorists.

He said that about 30% of Colombia’s regions lacked effective territorial control when the new government took office, a figure Fox News Digital could not independently verify. Restrepo said the administration wants to reclaim those areas through stronger security forces, intelligence work, drug eradication and extraditions. He also argued that the same debate should reach the United Nations, where Colombia used its General Assembly speech this week to urge reforms and an international definition of terrorism.

Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday it was suspending all diplomatic relations with Iran. In a statement posted to X, the ministry said the move was tied to national and hemispheric security, as well as the fight against transnational crime, citing alleged links between the Iranian government and international terrorist groups and other narcoterrorist groups.

Restrepo said the United Nations should use the moment to reassess its future and become more effective. He said peace cannot be achieved without confronting terrorism and argued for stronger intelligence sharing, judicial cooperation and coordination among nations. With Secretary-General António Guterres due to leave office at the end of the year, he said the transition could give the institution a chance to change.

He also said the UN needs to confront what he described as inconsistent enforcement of human rights. “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.”