Andean Group - September 2026

Colombia’s new President Abelardo de la Espriella wasted little time in tearing up the security and counternarcotics playbook that was drafted by his left-wing predecessor, Gustavo Petro (2022-2026). Promises of a tougher stance have been applauded by Washington but have generated pushback from the country’s guerrilla groups, which carried out a wave of attacks in the weeks after the change of government. We explore the new administration’s early security moves in the first article of this September 2026 edition of the Latin American Regional Report: Andean Group. Those security changes were initially overshadowed by a powerful earthquake which hit western Colombia just three days after De la Espriella took office. The second article explores the economic impact of the earthquake and its likely impact on fiscal policy.

We then turn our attention to Bolivia, which despite being the world’s third largest producer of coca and occupying a strategically important position between the coca fields of Peru and the Brazilian ports from where cocaine is shipped onwards to Europe, has long been spared the narco-violence suffered by some of its neighbours. This comparatively peaceful status may now be at risk amid concerns about the encroachment of powerful Brazilian organised crime groups. President Rodrigo Paz’s government has responded by deploying the military to border areas and launching a joint security plan with Brazil.

A second article on Bolivia then looks at the factors behind the impeachment on 18 August of the finance minister, José Gabriel Espinoza, who had been in the role since Paz took office in November 2025. Espinoza’s downfall shows that congress is increasingly flexing its muscles despite being dominated by conservative parties that are mostly on board with the government’s agenda.

We then turn our attention to Peru, where on 20 August the prime minister, Luis Galarreta, presented congress with the government’s main priorities for its five-year term. There are five key areas: security; reducing vulnerability to natural disasters; promoting human development; increasing productivity and boosting formal employment; and consolidating democratic governability and the rule of law. Disaster preparedness is set to be the government’s initial priority amid fears of a particularly severe El Niño climate phenomenon in the coming months.

This issue concludes with a look at rising concern about Russian military recruitment in Peru and Bolivia for Moscow’s war in Ukraine. Russia’s ambassador in Lima, Alexei Ushakov, was summoned by Peru’s foreign ministry on 10 August to answer questions about recruitment efforts.