Rubio hails Colombia's new pro-Trump leader De la Espriella on first stop of Latin American tour

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday he hoped to see the US security relationship with Colombia rebound under the country's newly inaugurated far-right president, as Rubio began a tour of Latin American countries whose leaders are closely aligned with US President Donald ​Trump's administration. Washington is ‌stepping up security engagement with the region on issues including migration and drug trafficking as the US pushes to reassert its influence ⁠across Latin America. Under the second Trump administration, the US military has carried out deadly strikes on small boats in the Caribbean accused of carrying drugs, seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in an armed raid and enforced a crippling fuel blockade on Cuba. At their meeting in the coastal city ‌of Barranquilla, Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella said he and Rubio discussed security cooperation against drug trafficking, improved economic ties and ⁠an expanded role for Colombia in what he called "bulletproofing the hemisphere". He said Colombia would be an ally to the US on neighbouring Venezuela. "Colombia wants to newly consolidate itself as the principal hemispheric partner for the United States...