US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday he hoped to see the US security relationship with Colombia rebound under the country's newly inaugurated far-right president, as Rubio began a tour of Latin American countries whose leaders are closely aligned with US President Donald ​Trump's administration. Washington is ‌stepping up security engagement with the region on issues including migration and drug trafficking as the US pushes to reassert its influence ⁠across Latin America. Under the second Trump administration, the US military has carried out deadly strikes on small boats in the Caribbean accused of carrying drugs, seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in an armed raid and enforced a crippling fuel blockade on Cuba. At their meeting in the coastal city ‌of Barranquilla, Colombian President Abelardo De La Espriella said he and Rubio discussed security cooperation against drug trafficking, improved economic ties and ⁠an expanded role for Colombia in what he called "bulletproofing the hemisphere". He said Colombia would be an ally to the US on neighbouring Venezuela. "Colombia wants to newly consolidate itself as the principal hemispheric partner for the United States on security," said De La Espriella, who took office on ​August 7. Read moreGovernment air strikes kill 20 alleged guerrillas in Colombia, president says Rubio told reporters that the Pentagon and Colombia's security forces were discussing new cooperation and Colombia's equipment requests. He ‌attributed fraught ties in recent years to De La Espriella's predecessor, the left-wing Gustavo Petro, who frequently clashed with Trump. Rubio said Washington hoped to restore the cooperation and "perhaps to ‌build upon it". "And I think you have a president here now that is very interested in making that happen," he said De La Espriella said Colombia sought US help in the form of aircraft including drones, radar, anti-money-laundering efforts and ​other security tools for its fight against drug gangs. Rubio agreed Colombia needed help with equipment, intelligence and training but did not specify what the US would provide. The top diplomat lavished praise on De la Espriella as "a man of strength", joking he had known the Colombian leader long before he "lost his mind and went into politics". He said it was unusual to visit a country and meet a head of state he had known personally long before reaching office.