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Rubio chooses Central America for first trip amid Panama Canal pressure Today World News

Rubio chooses Central America for first trip amid Panama Canal pressure Today World News

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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in his confirmation hearing did not suggest military force but said the United States needed to address serious concerns about Chinese influence near the vital waterway between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Marco Rubio will pay his first trip as U.S. secretary of state to Central American nations including Panama, where President Donald Trump has threatened to seize the Panama Canal, a spokeswoman said Thursday (January 23, 2025).

Mr. Rubio, who is the first Hispanic and first fluent Spanish speaker to serve as the top U.S. diplomat, has vowed to put a top priority on Mr. TrumpтАЩs goal of curbing migration from Central American nations.

State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Mr. Rubio would travel starting late next week to Panama as well as Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.

тАЬItтАЩs about making sure that if weтАЩre going to be safe and prosperous and in good shape, weтАЩve got to have an interest in our neighbors тАФ and in todayтАЩs world, itтАЩs certainly South and Central America,тАЭ Mr. Bruce said.

“There’s a reason why this is the first trip. It signals how seriously he takes it,” she said.

Mr. Bruce did not describe the details of any expected conversations on the Panama Canal. Mr. Trump in his inaugural address Monday (January 20, 2025) vowed that the United States would be тАЬtaking it back.тАЭ

Mr. Rubio in his confirmation hearing did not suggest military force but said the United States needed to address serious concerns about Chinese influence near the vital waterway between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Panama, which has long been friendly to the United States, complained to the United Nations over Mr. TrumpтАЩs threat.

President Jose Raul Mulino, during a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said that the canal тАЬbelongs to Panama and will continue to belong to Panama.тАЭ

Enforcement against migration

Mr. Trump тАФ who during his campaign said that immigrants were тАЬpoisoning the blood of our countryтАЭ тАФ has put a top priority on halting undocumented migration into the United States.

The Central American nations of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras тАФ torn by endemic violence, poverty and natural disasters exacerbated by climate change тАФ have been among the top sources of migration.

Mr. TrumpтАЩs predecessor Joe Biden vowed to look at the root causes of migration. Mr. Trump has quickly put an emphasis on enforcement, suspending a Biden program that gives asylum seekers a chance to make their case in an orderly way and threatening to use the military to help secure the U.S.-Mexico border.

El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, has been a favorite of Mr. Trump supporters for his lethal and ruthless crackdown on crime. The president’s son Donald Trump Jr. attended Bukele’s second inauguration last year.

The Biden administration had a more distant relationship with Bukele, amid concerns over human rights, although it also largely worked with him as it sought to address migration.

Mr. RubioтАЩs decision to visit Guatemala likely marks a continuation of U.S. support for President Bernardo Arevalo, a once-obscure anti-corruption advocate who pulled off an upset election victory in 2023.

The Biden administration hailed Mr. ArevaloтАЩs victory and quickly moved to work with him as he pushed back against an entrenched elite that sought to stop him from taking office.

Mr. Arevalo has enjoyed some bipartisan support in Washington but his opponents have sought an alliance with fringe movements that refused to recognize BidenтАЩs 2020 victory over Mr. Trump.

Mr. Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, on taking office said he would stop State Department work that seeks to тАЬfacilitate or encourage mass migration,тАЭ vowing to pursue Mr. TrumpтАЩs goal of enforcement.

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Rubio chooses Central America for first trip amid Panama Canal pressure

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