WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Trump administration notified Congress on Tuesday of its intention to redirect $52 million in military assistance originally destined for Europe and the Middle East toward four Latin American countries whose governments are closely aligned with Washington — Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Panama — in one of the clearest concrete expressions yet of the administration’s declared shift in regional priorities.
A State Department official confirmed the department formally notified Congress of its intent to reprogram funds from the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program originally allocated to Slovakia, North Macedonia, Tunisia, and Iraq, redirecting them instead to Panama, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia.
The official said the $52 million will support efforts to combat what the department calls “narcoterrorism” within Washington’s own “zone of influence,” and will help secure the Panama Canal specifically.
The department noted that nearly 80% of FMF funding over the past decade has gone to the Middle East, and framed the reallocation as consistent with the National Security Strategy the Trump administration published in December 2025, which the department said aims to reduce these Latin American partners’ potential defense dependency on U.S. “adversaries.”
The notification came directly on the heels of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s three-day tour of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru — the first three of the four countries now receiving the redirected funds, and the trip we covered in detail as it unfolded.
Rubio met with President Abelardo de la Espriella in Barranquilla, President Daniel Noboa in Quito, and President Keiko Fujimori in Lima during that swing.