U.S. restricts visas to Ecuadorians, Bolivians, Peruvians and Colombians for corruption and drug trafficking

The United States has placed visa restrictions on citizens of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, who it accuses of having contributed, through practices of corruption or drug trafficking activities, to weaken governments that emerged from the polls and the rule of law in the western hemisphere.

This action is part of the “Shield of the Americas’ initiative, a regional alliance of conservative countries whose central purpose is to combat criminal organizations and those who support them from within public institutions.

The Undersecretary of State of the United States, Christopher Landau, has defended that the project seeks to move from political commitments to tangible actions. “The Shield is not just words; it is action and results,” he has stated in a message disseminated on social networks, in which he has also announced that new measures will be adopted.

Landau has specified that the Department of State has applied immigration restrictions to nationals of the four countries that, according to Washington, “have undermined the rule of law in our hemisphere,” and has reiterated that the U.S. Executive remains alongside Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru to “defend democratically elected governments against corruption and the narcoterrorist networks that seek to undermine them.”

The new policy is based on the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which empowers authorities to bar entry to the country when the presence or planned activities of a person may have potentially serious consequences for U.S. foreign policy.

Measures directed at citizens of four countries
The Department of State has explained that this mechanism will allow for continuous and agile action as new evidence is gathered, and that it includes restrictions both for the individuals directly named and, in certain cases, for their closest relatives.

In the case of Bolivia, Washington has revoked the current visas of twelve people and their direct relatives. Among those affected are the senior prosecutor Martín Daniel Irusta Flores; the anti-corruption and violence against women investigating judge of Santa Cruz Albania Chane Caballero; the former Minister of Justice Iván Manolo Lima Magne, and the former executive president of the National Customs Alberto Samuel Soto de la Via.

This list adds nine other Bolivian citizens who currently did not have a U.S. visa and who, along with their families, have been declared ineligible to obtain it in the future.

In Colombia, the Trump Administration has taken action against two citizens and their families, through the revocation of their visas: businessman Euclides Antonio Torres, owner of a conglomerate primarily present in the energy sector, and Senator Martha Isabel Peralta, linked to the Historical Pact and the Indigenous and Social Alternative Movement (MAIS).

In Ecuador, the United States has imposed visa restrictions on two other individuals and has canceled the visas of those affected, extending the sanctions to their families according to the announced policy. In Peru, the decision has affected one citizen — the judge of the Constitutional Court of the First Circuit of Lima Juan Carlos Núñez Matos — and his family environment.

The Attorney General of Bolivia, implicated in corruption
In addition to these restrictions, the State Department has publicly included the Attorney General of Bolivia, Roger Mariaca, on the list of foreign officials implicated in corruption.

The designation of Mariaca implies that both he and his immediate family are prohibited from entering the United States. Washington has argued its decision by stating that it has information about an alleged involvement of the Attorney General in “significant acts of corruption.”

According to the version disseminated by the State Department, Mariaca, elected in 2024 for a six-year term during the presidency of then-president Luis Arce, would have used his public positions to solicit and receive bribes intended to “facilitate drug trafficking” and “help violent criminals evade the action of Justice.”

The United States maintains that these behaviors hinder its efforts against narcoterrorism and erode the democratic institutions that the countries comprising the ‘Shield of the Americas’ have committed to strengthen. “Corrupt officials –and the criminals they protect– are not welcome in the United States,” Washington has emphasized while explaining the measures.

The accusation against Mariaca has been made under the National Security Allocations Act, Department of State and Related Programs of 2026, which authorizes the Secretary of State to designate, publicly or privately, foreign officials and their immediate family members when there is information deemed reliable regarding their involvement in significant corruption or serious violations of Human Rights.
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Credit: Democratica