The United States canceled on Monday, the 28th, the visas of judges, senior officials and businessmen from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, accusing them of corruption, ties to drug trafficking, or conspiracy against their respective governments.
Among those sanctioned are judges of the Supreme Court, senior police officials, prosecutors and a Bolivian businessman; a Colombian businessman and a senator; two Ecuadorians; and a magistrate of the first constitutional court of Lima, capital of Peru, according to the statement from the U.S. State Department.
The revocation of the visas of these senior officials and their families is part of the commitments undertaken under the Americas Shield Alliance, created by initiative of President Donald Trump in March this year, the State Department statement explained.
“Under the Trump administration, corrupt foreign officials can no longer enter the United States freely,” the statement said. “This policy restricts the issuance of visas to foreigners – and their immediate family members – who undermine a democratically elected government through corruption or drug trafficking activities in our region,” it added.
“Undermining a democratically elected government is a threat to security and the rule of law in the Americas, and it will not be tolerated,” the statement warned.
Bolivia’s conservative government faced weeks of protests that paralyzed much of the country, until the president declared a state of emergency on June 20, which remains in effect.
Colombia has just elected a president, Abelardo de la Espriella, who presents himself as an ally of Trump, after a fierce electoral campaign and accusations against the left-wing opposition of having tried to prevent him from taking power.
Ecuador is another ally of Washington, involved in a war against organized crime backed by the US military, while Peru has also just elected a conservative president after another heated and tense campaign.
These four countries are part of the Americas Shield, which brings together fifteen countries in the region. The alliance leaders met last week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly and reaffirmed their willingness to take “collective actions”.
The State Department has denied permission to travel to the United States as a way to curb immigration or as an instrument of pressure against some governments, from entry bans for South African authorities accused of discriminating against white people to the refusal to issue visas for the Palestinian delegation that intended to participate in the UN’s annual meeting of world leaders.
Among the targets of the Trump administration’s measure is Bolivia’s Attorney General, Roger Mariaca. Mariaca, elected to a six-year term in 2024, is accused of abuse of power for soliciting and accepting bribes to facilitate drug trafficking, as well as being accused of helping violent criminals evade justice, according to the documents.
“His actions jeopardize President Trump’s efforts to fight narcoterrorism, while at the same time undermining the very democratic institutions that Bolivia, as a participant in the Shield, is working to strengthen,” the State Department said.
*With information from international agencies.
