At 10:50 a.m., a large convoy of vehicles sped through the main gate of the Government Palace’s courtyard under heavy security. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stepped out of one of the vehicles and was greeted by President Keiko Fujimori, who was waiting for him at the entrance to the Government Palace. The carefully choreographed arrival marked the culmination of Rubio’s South American tour and the beginning of what both governments described as a new chapter in relations between Peru and the United States.
The centrepiece of the meeting was the official announcement of Peru’s incorporation into the “Shield of the Americas”, a coalition launched by the Trump administration to combat transnational organised crime. The announcement also gave visible form to Washington’s renewed effort to strengthen its alliances in Latin America, at a moment when the region is increasingly becoming an arena of competition between the United States and China.
Before arriving at the Executive headquarters, Rubio, who had arrived in Lima the previous evening, met early with officials from the US Embassy in Lima. He then travelled to the Torre Tagle Palace in downtown Lima, where he met Foreign Minister Carlos Espá, before departing for the Government Palace.
At the palace, Fujimori and Rubio met privately for more than an hour in the Cáceres Room, accompanied by their respective delegations. Peru was represented by the President of the Council of Ministers, Luis Galarreta, and other cabinet ministers. The US delegation included US Ambassador to Peru Bernie Navarro and other US government officials.
Following the meeting, Fujimori and Rubio issued a joint statement. Fujimori said that the first issue addressed was how to confront international organised crime and formally announced Peru’s entry into the Shield of the Americas. She argued that just as Peru had previously faced terrorism, its current challenge was “this criminality that respects no borders”, requiring countries to work together.
“Being part of the ‘Shield of the Americas’ will allow us, as we have already demonstrated, to obtain information more quickly, act more firmly, and from Peru we will act with all the powers that the law and the Constitution grant us,” Fujimori said.
She pointed to the capture days earlier in Bolivia of Jhonsson Smit Cruz Torres, alias “Jhonsson Pulpo”, saying it had been made possible by information provided by the FBI. The example, she argued, demonstrated the practical value of closer intelligence cooperation.
“From our side, from the cabinet headed by Luis Galarreta, we have the firm will to confront them. And with these tools, this information, and the coordination of all the countries, we will be able to act much more quickly and achieve concrete results,” she said.
Fujimori also recalled that the United States had helped Peru in the fight against drug trafficking during the 1990s, arguing that the two countries had already demonstrated what could be achieved when they worked together with political will. She said that the new arrangement would provide Peru with more direct access to information and greater capacity to act against criminal organisations.
The security partnership is particularly significant for Peru, one of the world’s principal producers of cocaine and a country in which international drug-trafficking networks operate. Rubio has framed the threat not simply as a Peruvian security problem but as a transnational challenge that reaches across national borders.
“The most important obligation of any government is the peace, tranquillity, and security of its people. And when that is threatened, everything else is impossible. It is impossible to grow the economy, it is impossible to have prosperity, it is impossible to do any of these things if the country does not have peace, tranquillity, and order,” Rubio said.
He argued that criminal groups had evolved beyond organisations operating solely within individual national territories. “But remember, there was a time when these groups operated only within national territories, but today it’s a network of terrorists, of extremely dangerous criminals operating across borders in several countries, with banking and economic connections. It’s a criminal infrastructure that is trying to take over the hemisphere; and we cannot allow it,” he said.
Rubio said the only way to defeat such groups was to confront them “forcefully”. He also said Peru would be helped “in every way possible”, explaining that the commitment was based not only on the friendship between the two countries but on the fact that criminal gangs “operating with impunity in the hemisphere” represented a direct threat to the United States.
He welcomed Peru’s incorporation into the Shield of the Americas and described the country as “a very important partner”. “But people are asking, ‘A shield against what?’ A shield against these criminal and terrorist gangs that are a direct threat to the sovereignty of our countries. We are seeing criminal gangs that today have more money and better military equipment than the state’s own military. That is unacceptable, and that is what the shield is against,” Rubio said.
He described the initiative as a mechanism through which countries could act jointly against “terrorist groups that extort” and commit other crimes. Rubio rejected suggestions that the arrangement would infringe national sovereignty, saying that cooperation would remain within existing legal frameworks.
Fujimori likewise insisted that Peru’s sovereignty would remain intact. She had earlier stressed that the entry of foreign troops was subject to a specific constitutional provision requiring special permission from Congress. “Regarding the entry of foreign troops, there is a specific law in the Constitution. A special permission must be requested from Congress, that will remain. Peru’s sovereignty is intact, here what we are going to recover is order, tranquillity and peace for all Peruvians,” she said.
The emphasis on sovereignty is significant because the Shield of the Americas has already attracted questions over whether closer security cooperation could eventually subordinate national decisions to Washington’s interests. Both governments, however, presented the initiative as a partnership between sovereign states rather than a unilateral American operation.
Rubio described the arrangement as “a very powerful alliance against these diabolical movements that have terrorised the region for many years”, arguing that political leaders in different countries had in some cases lacked the courage to confront such groups or had been complicit with them.
The security agenda was accompanied by discussions on trade, investment, education and infrastructure. Rubio said the two countries would seek trade agreements that would benefit both sides, adding that “there are many possibilities” and that much remained to be done.
Fujimori also said she discussed with Rubio the challenge Peru faces from the El Niño phenomenon. She used the issue to question why the previous government had not acted, while announcing that a hospital ship with more than 1,000 beds and high-tech medical equipment, which she said would be the USNS Comfort, would arrive on Peru’s northern coast next February to address the emergency.
Education, infrastructure investment and trade were also discussed. Fujimori welcomed what she described as US President Donald Trump’s “political decision to look to Latin America”, saying Rubio’s visit demonstrated the importance Washington was now placing on its bilateral relations with Peru.
“For Peru, it is vitally important to know that the United States now has a political focus on Latin America. We were telling Secretary Rubio that previous administrations did not give it the importance it deserves. And his presence here precisely marks the difference that President Trump has today,” she said.
The broader significance of the visit was also evident in the language used by both governments to describe the bilateral relationship. Fujimori said Peru’s participation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, where the United States is also a member, provided an existing framework for engagement. But she said recent agreements and the new direct cooperation represented a qualitative change.
“But today, with Secretary Rubio present, with the agreements signed in recent days, with this direct collaboration that we are receiving and that will be reciprocal, we are beginning a new era in relations between Peru and the United States. And we are absolutely certain that these relations will strengthen both countries,” Fujimori said.
Rubio described the moment in even stronger terms, calling it the beginning of a “golden era” in bilateral relations. He highlighted the work carried out during the first 40 days of Fujimori’s government and maintained that the Trump administration intended to give the hemisphere a genuine priority.
“I firmly believe that we are beginning a new era, a golden era in the relationship between Peru and the United States,” Rubio said.
But Rubio’s visit has taken place against a much larger geopolitical contest. Peru has increasingly found itself positioned between the competing interests of the United States and China. While narcotics and security formed the official centre of the American agenda, China’s growing influence in the South Pacific was an unmistakable backdrop to the visit.
Within hours of Rubio’s arrival, the Chinese Embassy in Peru published several messages on social media questioning Washington without directly naming the United States. “China has never acted with geopolitical calculations, has never interfered in the internal affairs of other countries and has never demanded that other countries take sides or choose a camp. The Western Hemisphere is not anyone’s ‘backyard’,” the Chinese representation said.
Beijing also pointed to the different treatment of Peruvian travellers. It noted that citizens holding ordinary Peruvian passports can travel to China without a visa and remain for up to 30 days, while “a certain country” does not offer the same facilities. “Why, when applying for a visa to a certain country, do Peruvians have to undergo rigorous checks and even face threats of cancellation of the visas of their entire family?” it asked.
China further stressed the scale of its economic presence in Peru, noting that Peru is the second-largest destination for Chinese investment in Latin America, with a stock of 30 billion dollars.
The Chinese messages followed a column Rubio published earlier in the week in the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio, in which he accused China of “entering our region with promises that hide its predatory practices”. Rubio argued that Beijing usurps national sovereignty, disregards Peru’s legal frameworks and that Chinese participation in other countries often takes the form of “opaque contracts, unsustainable indebtedness, exploitation of workers and environmental destruction”.
He contrasted that model with US private investment, which he presented as respectful of Peruvian property and the security interests of the hemisphere.
The most visible point of tension is the megaport of Chancay, inaugurated in 2024 and 60% controlled by the Chinese company COSCO Shipping Ports Limited. Its development has generated concern in Washington, which questions whether infrastructure on such a scale could become logistical support for Chinese naval forces.
For Peru, the challenge is therefore not confined to the fight against organised crime. It also involves preserving room for manoeuvre while relations with Washington deepen and China remains a major economic partner.
Former Foreign Minister Hugo de Zela has argued that Peru does not benefit from becoming trapped in a confrontation between the United States and China and should act according to its own interests. In an interview with El Comercio, he described Rubio’s visit as “a tangible demonstration” of the priority Washington now gives to the region and, in particular, to Peru.
On the Shield of the Americas, De Zela said crime is currently “the main national problem” and that the government needs to provide answers. He described cooperation with the other 14 countries as a response to what he characterised as a multinational phenomenon.
“I believe that a very important response to this is precisely the alliance with a group of 14 other countries to seek to confront this phenomenon, which is a multinational phenomenon, with cooperation among a group of countries,” he said.
De Zela maintained that the arrangement did not mean Peru would be subjected to another country’s mandates. Rather, he described it as joint cooperation in which each country would continue to operate according to its own laws and regulations.
Former Foreign Minister Luis Gonzales Posada similarly described Rubio’s arrival as “a demonstration of recognition of our country’s democracy” and an expression of the desire to “forge unity to confront international criminal gangs”. He said the purpose was to exchange intelligence, technology and equipment to strengthen security and combat crime.
“I don’t see how it affects national sovereignty. There’s no reason to. We can forge economic, commercial, financial, and anti-crime alliances. And that’s an act of our own free will, not one of imposition,” Gonzales Posada told El Comercio.
He also stressed the potential contribution of institutions such as the FBI and DEA, describing their expertise and technology as important given the scale of the security challenge confronting Peru.
The security relationship is already being accompanied by concrete commitments. The US Embassy said the United States would transfer two Beechcraft King Air 360ER aircraft to the Peruvian Navy as part of a comprehensive security assistance package. The $35 million initiative includes the aircraft, training and maintenance support. According to the embassy, the resources will contribute, among other things, to combating illegal fishing.
The United States also plans to provide $20 million in foreign military funding for fiscal year 2026 and support special units of the PNP.
Beyond security, Washington and Lima are seeking new opportunities in the minerals sector. The US Embassy also announced more than one million dollars in support aimed at building a future talent pool through training in space education, English language learning and cultural heritage protection.
That support includes US$240,000 for the Fulbright Commission to support space education initiatives; US$252,000 for English language teaching initiatives to promote space education; US$246,000 from the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation to support a partnership between the University of Florida and the University of Trujillo to expand a museum dedicated to the preservation of cultural heritage; and US$300,000 to support law enforcement training in the Andean region for professionals in police, customs, border control and legal investigation.
The visit generated considerable interest from the media. According to El Comercio, approximately 90 journalists, including Peruvians, representatives of international news agencies and members of the North American press, entered the Government Palace for the occasion.
After his meeting with Fujimori, Rubio travelled to the American Chamber of Commerce of Peru. His visit to Lima concluded a tour that had already taken him to Ecuador and Colombia, where the Trump administration has also sought to reinforce security and political ties.
The tour represents the largest diplomatic movement by Washington in South America since Donald Trump returned to the White House. In Peru, the symbolism was particularly pronounced: a US Secretary of State arrived under heavy security, met a newly installed president, announced Peru’s entry into a US-led security coalition and declared the beginning of a “golden era” in bilateral relations.
For Lima, the immediate objective is cooperation against organised crime and access to intelligence, technology and equipment. For Washington, the partnership places Peru more firmly within its renewed hemispheric strategy. And for China, the developments provide another indication that the United States is seeking to reassert its presence in a region where Beijing has established significant economic ties.
Peru’s incorporation into the Shield of the Americas thus comes at the intersection of two different agendas: a security campaign against criminal organisations that cross national borders and an increasingly visible competition between two global powers for influence in Latin America. Both Fujimori and Rubio insist that the new partnership will preserve Peru’s sovereignty. The commitments announced in Lima now provide the practical test of how that principle will operate as the relationship enters the “new era” both leaders have proclaimed.
