The head of the American diplomacy, Marco Rubio, begins a tour of Latin America that will take him to Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.
The State Department communicated on its social networks that the trip seeks to “promote the foreign policy of the United States.” Donald Trump’s administration wants to “strengthen national security”, “protecting borders and improving our economic prosperity.”
On his first trip as Secretary of State, Rubio will arrive with two priorities to the region: migration and security, according to an agency report AFP.
.@Secrubio Will Travel to Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala & The Dominican Republic February 1-6 to Advance The Trump Administration’s America First Foreign Point P would by Strengthening us National Security, Protecting Our Borders, And Enhancing Our Economic Prosperity.
– Department of State (@statedept) January 31, 2025
His first stop will be Panama, where the atmosphere is tense. The Republican tycoon wants to “recover” the control of the Panama Canal because he believes that he is under Chinese influence, for which he does not rule out the use of military force.
Given these statements, and given this visit, demonstrations were announced throughout the country, anchoring by construction workers, according to Latin press (PL).
In its Truth Social platform, Trump accused the country this week of trying to withdraw at high speed “The signs that are written in Chinese” because “China controls the Panama Canal. Panama won’t get yours! ”He wrote.
Meanwhile, on Thursday the Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino ruled out negotiating With the United States on this issue.
“I cannot negotiate, much less open a negotiation process on the channel, that is sealed, the channel is from Panama,” he said at a press conference.
Migrants
Trump, who considers any migrant “criminal” who has entered illegally in the United States, has promised a record number of expulsions.
It is very likely that Rubio asks for cooperation to the five countries that he visits to receive more flights and migrants from states that possibly reject their nationals such as Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, says the French agency.
Rubio, son of Cuban immigrants, is also expected to defend conservative governments. It will be the case of El Salvador, whose president Nayib Bukele is considered amended by his ruthless war against gangs and crime, despite the criticisms of human rights organizations.
In the Dominican Republic, President Luis Abinader has launched a policy not very far from Trump’s, with his promise to expel Haitians in an irregular situation and the construction of a wall on the border with the poorest country on the continent.
In Guatemala, Bernardo Arévalo, chosen in part by his promise to combat corruption, hastened to cooperate with Trump accepting expelled migrants.
Trump’s interest in Greenland “is not a joke,” says Marco Rubio
According to PL, on Monday, February 3 Rubio will supervise a repatriation flight of irregular migrants to Colombia, which will depart from Marcos A. Gelabert airport, as part of the signed memorandum between Panama and the United States on July 1.
Marco Rubio’s trip was announced before tensions between the United States and Colombia for sending migrants in an irregular situation in military planes and some of them with shackles.
Trump said that together with Rubio he managed the answer: threats of tariffs and other sanctions to Bogotá if he did not enter through the hoop, summarizes AFP.
