The United States announced on Thursday a tightening of its visa policy for Latin America and the Caribbean that initially affects 26 people, without detailing names or nationalities. “This Administration will deny adversary powers the ability to own or control critical assets or to threaten the security and prosperity of the United States in our region,” the press release states at the outset.
“In support of this core objective, the Department of State is announcing a significant expansion of an existing visa restriction policy,” it added. Donald Trump’s government has repeatedly used the prerogative of granting or withdrawing visas. The most notable case was that of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, following his participation in a street demonstration in New York in September on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
Amid a heated verbal clash between Trump and Petro, the State Department revoked Petro’s visa the following month and also announced sanctions against him and members of his family over alleged links to drug trafficking.
Those sanctions were later lifted as part of the process of normalizing relations between the two presidents, which culminated in an invitation for Petro to visit the White House. While the U.S. government made public information available in Petro’s case, the State Department has emphasized that it is not obligated to disclose names for confidentiality reasons.
“We will not disclose the names of individuals affected by this visa restriction policy,” a State Department source said on condition of anonymity. “This expanded policy allows us to restrict U.S. visas for nationals of countries in our region who (…) finance, provide significant support for, or carry out activities that are adverse to U.S. interests in our hemisphere and undermine them,” the statement adds.
“To demonstrate our commitment to this expanded policy, we have taken action to impose visa restrictions on 26 individuals throughout our hemisphere who have engaged in these activities,” it added, without further details. “The Trump Administration will use all available tools to protect our national security interests,” it said.
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