U.S. Department of State announced on Monday the revocation of visas for nearly 30 high-ranking Latin American officials, former officials, and their families, including Bolivian Attorney General, citing significant corruption charges.

The sanctions targets 27 people including high-ranking officials from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, all countries with leaders of right-wing tendencies aligned with Trump administration policies.

The State Department announced the revocations on Monday alleging the comminment “to fulfill commitments to defend democratic governance across our hemisphere against corruption and drug trafficking.”

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Among the most notable figures sanctioned is Bolivia’s Attorney General, Roger Mariaca, who is accused of accepting bribes to facilitate drug trafficking and aiding violent criminals to evade justice.

In Mariaca’s case, the sanction also extends to his “immediate family,” who will likewise be ineligible to enter United States. According to the State Department, the Bolivian official “abused his public office by soliciting and accepting bribes to facilitate drug trafficking and helped violent criminals evade justice.”

The measures, according to the announcement, target “corrupt foreign officials” who “can no longer freely enter United States.” The U.S. State Department added that the sanctions fulfill “commitments to defend democratic governance throughout our hemisphere against corruption and drug trafficking,” commitments made at the Doral Summit and reaffirmed in the September 22 declaration by Shield of the Americas leaders.

Under the Trump Administration, corrupt foreign officials can no longer freely enter the United States. We are publicly designating the Attorney General of Bolivia, Roger Mariaca, for taking bribes from narcotraffickers to help them evade justice. The Department is also taking…

— US Dept of State INL (@StateINL) September 28, 2026

Beyond Bolivia’s Attorney General, the U.S. imposed restrictions on 12 additional individuals: senior prosecutor Martin Daniel Irusta Flores; Albania Chane Caballero Saavedra, first anti-corruption and gender violence investigating judge in Bolivia’s Santa Cruz department; that province’s chief prosecutor, Alberto Zeballos Flores; head of criminal investigation Rosario Ximena Flores Paniagua; and former Minister of Justice and Institutional Transparency Iván Manolo Lima Magne.

Also sanctioned were current senior prosecutor and former Chuquisaca departmental prosecutor Álvaro Mauricio Nava Morales Carrasco; constitutional court magistrate Israel Ramiro Campero Méndez; former executive president of the National Customs Agency Alberto Samuel Soto de la Vía; former alternate Supreme Court magistrate Iván Ramiro Campero Villalba; judge Rodrigo Aldo Vedia Espinoza; Bolivian police colonel Frans William Cabrera Quispe; and businessman José Luis Iriarte Cussi. Nine additional Bolivian citizens who do not currently hold visas were declared “generally ineligible” for future visas, along with their family members.

The Shield of the Americas isn’t just words – it’s a coalition that takes action. Today, @StateDept is taking steps to impose visa restrictions on corrupt actors in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru who undermine democratically elected governments. This includes designating…

— Tommy Pigott (@statedeptspox) September 28, 2026

In Colombia, the Trump’s administration revoked the visas of a private businessman in the energy, traffic signage and public lighting sector, as well as Senator Martha Isabel Peralta Epieyú of the Historic Pact and the Alternative Indigenous and Social Movement (MAIS).

In Ecuador, Washington sanctioned “two Ecuadorian citizens and their families” with visa revocations, while in Peru, the visa of Judge Juan Carlos Núñez Matos, of Lima’s First Constitutional Circuit Court, was revoked.

The State Department’s action reflects a broader effort by the Trump administration to use visa restrictions as a diplomatic tool against officials it accuses of corruption or complicity in organized crime across Latin America, a strategy tied to the Shield of the Americas security initiative and the administration’s stated commitment to strengthening democratic governance throughout the region. The scale of Monday’s announcement, spanning four countries and nearly 30 individuals, signals an intensified approach by Washington toward officials it views as undermining democratic institutions in the hemisphere.

The State Department has been denying permits to travel to United States as a way of curbing immigration or as a tool to lobby against some governments, from bans on South African officials to refusal to issue visas to the Palestinian delegation to attend the UN General Assembly.

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