US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives in Lima on Thursday to meet Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori over military deals, organized crime and growing Chinese influence.
The visit marks the final stop of a three-day South American tour by Rubio, who previously visited Colombia and Ecuador before arriving in the Peruvian capital.
Fujimori, Peru's new right-wing leader, has taken swift steps to align the nation with US policy under President Donald Trump. Her government plans to join the Shield of the Americas, a regional anti-crime coalition launched by Trump alongside allied conservative governments across Latin America.
Fujimori is a prominent conservative political figure in Peru and the leader of the Popular Force party. The proposed security alliance aims to establish coordinated law enforcement action among participating Western Hemisphere nations to combat transnational criminal syndicates.
Rubio confirmed Peru's intended participation in an opinion column published on Tuesday in the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio as his regional tour began. He noted that Fujimori had signalled her intention to sign up to the alliance even before taking office.
Addressing organized crime is a central priority for Fujimori's administration. Although Peru does not record the extreme violence levels seen in some neighbouring states, the country has suffered a sharp rise in extortion targeting local businesses under threat of death, alongside a surge in illegal mining operations run by criminal bands.
Bilateral law enforcement cooperation produced a major arrest last week when Bolivian authorities captured Jhonsson Cruz Torres, also known as Jhonsson Pulpo. The fugitive leader of the criminal gang Los Pulpos was apprehended following joint operations involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The FBI serves as the primary federal domestic law enforcement agency in the United States, while the DEA oversees international counter-narcotics enforcement. Both agencies regularly assist partner nations across Latin America in tracking criminal syndicates.
US Security Concerns and Tensions With Beijing
During his visit, Rubio is raising sharp US concerns over Beijing's expanding economic footprint in South America. Writing in El Comercio, Rubio stated that infrastructure projects backed by the Chinese Communist Party frequently bypass Peruvian legal frameworks and pose risks to data security and institutional transparency.
Rubio specifically referenced an ongoing legal dispute involving Chinese state shipping giant Cosco, which owns the mega-port development in Chancay. Cosco has mounted a lawsuit against the Peruvian government seeking to exempt its port operations and commercial tariffs from oversight by national transport regulators.
Chancay is a strategic deep-water port located on Peru's Pacific coast north of Lima, built to handle direct container shipping routes between South America and Asia. State-owned Cosco Shipping, headquartered in Shanghai, is one of the world's largest maritime freight corporations.
The Chinese Embassy in Peru issued a forceful response to Rubio's statements, maintaining that Chinese commercial investments strictly adhere to local law and operate with full transparency. Embassy officials declared that China does not pursue geopolitical advantage, interfere in domestic affairs, or force sovereign nations to choose sides.
Diplomats from Beijing added that the Western Hemisphere is not anyone's backyard, emphasizing that Latin American nations hold the sovereign right to choose international partners based on their own national economic interests.
Defense Procurement and Technology Agreements
The high-level talks in Lima follow months of heavy diplomatic pressure from Washington regarding military procurements. The US has pushed Peru to purchase a fleet of 12 F-16 Block 70 fighter aircraft valued at 2 billion dollars to modernize its combat fleet.
The F-16 Block 70 is an advanced multirole fighter built by US defense contractor Lockheed Martin. Washington's sales pitch faced initial competition in Peru's fighter modernization program against France's Rafale, produced by Dassault Aviation, and Sweden's Gripen, manufactured by Saab.
Beyond combat aircraft, Peru has engaged Washington for a 3 billion dollar contract aimed at modernizing the Callao naval base. Situated adjacent to Lima, Callao serves as the primary operating hub and headquarters for the Peruvian Navy.
Ahead of Rubio's arrival, Fujimori's administration quietly finalized a memorandum of understanding on artificial intelligence with US officials. Under the agreement, Peru commits to import and adopt US-developed AI technologies while limiting reliance on extra-hemispheric competitors such as China.
Rubio concludes his three-day South American tour in Peru following his meetings in Lima.
