The U.S. State Department on October 22 restricted visas for 61 people from Colombia and Bolivia, saying they had used corruption or drug trafficking to undermine their countries' elected governments. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the department was acting against 21 individuals in Colombia and 40 in Bolivia "who, through corruption or narcotrafficking activities, undermine democratically elected governments in our hemisphere," "regardless of their political affiliation." Existing visas held by those covered will be revoked and new applications refused, and the restrictions extend to immediate family members. The measures are an immigration action, not a criminal charge, and the department did not give individual reasons for any name. Colombia's new president responded with a post Colombian media read as backing the move; two Bolivian lawmakers on the list denied wrongdoing, and one called it politically motivated.
Who was named
Of the 21 people in Colombia, the department named seven. The best known is Ricardo Roa Barragán, the former president of the state oil company Ecopetrol, who managed Gustavo Petro's 2022 presidential campaign; he faces criminal investigations in Colombia over both roles, according to Infobae, but has not been convicted. The others are Yahir Acuña, mayor of Sincelejo; Wadith Manzur, a senator-elect, and Karen Manrique, a representative-elect, whose detention Colombia's Supreme Court ordered in March in a corruption case involving the national disaster-risk agency, UNGRD; former senators Julio Chagüí and Liliana Bitar; and former congressman José Ignacio Mesa, whose 76-month prison sentence Colombia's Supreme Court upheld on August 31, according to The Rio Times.
In Bolivia, the 40 people covered are 15 named individuals and their immediate relatives, according to the Associated Press's Spanish-language service. They include judges, prosecutors and legislators, among them former Attorney General Juan Lanchipa Ponce and deputies Rafael López and Rolando Pacheco. The restrictions rest on Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which lets the secretary of state bar foreigners whose entry could have "serious adverse consequences" for U.S. foreign policy.
Reactions
Colombia's president, Abelardo de la Espriella, an independent who succeeded Petro in August, responded on X: "Bienvenidos a la Patria Milagro. ¡Firme por la Patria! ¡Que viva Cristo Rey!" ("Welcome to the Miracle Homeland. Steadfast for the homeland! Long live Christ the King!") The State Department said the decision supports governments working to root criminal influence out of their courts, police and legislatures, and a department spokesperson told Infobae a visa is "a privilege, not a right." Infobae reported no immediate response from the people named in Colombia. When the department restricted visas for Petro allies in September, Petro said that "progressivism in Colombia is being systematically persecuted by the White House and the State Department."
In Bolivia, Pacheco said the United States had acted on political interests, that he has clean hands, and that he is ready for any investigation, according to the newspaper Opinión. López also denied the accusations against him, Infobae reported. Former President Evo Morales said Washington uses visas to "blackmail" Bolivian authorities. Profoundd found no public comment from President Rodrigo Paz's government as of October 25; U.S. officials have presented the restrictions as support for it.
Part of a wider campaign
This is the second round under a policy the State Department announced in September. On September 28 it restricted visas for 27 current and former officials and family members from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, including Bolivia's then-attorney general, Roger Mariaca, who rejected the accusations as U.S. interference; AFP reported he was arrested shortly afterward, and the reports reviewed did not give the charge. Colombia and Bolivia are both members of the Shield of the Americas, the Trump administration's regional initiative against drug cartels, which the State Department linked to the policy.
This article reflects reporting through the evening of Sunday, October 25, 2026. Spanish-language quotations were translated by Profoundd. Sources: AFP via GMA News, October 23; The Rio Times; The Rio Times on Pacheco; VisaVerge; Infobae, October 23; Infobae on Bolivia; Pulzo; AP via Union-Bulletin; Colombia One, September 30; U.S. State Department, September.
