Secretary of State Rubio to visit Panama after Trump's claims about canal seizure
Kyiv • UNN
Marco Rubio is planning a visit to five Latin American countries, including Panama, where he will discuss migration and the Panama Canal issue. The trip will be Rubio's first foreign visit as secretary of state.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is going to visit Panama - the country whose channel President Donald Trump proposed to seize - as early as next week. This writes Politico, citing three US officials informed of the plan, reports UNN.
Rubio's trip, scheduled for late January and early February, also includes Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, officials said.
The trip is expected to be Rubio's first overseas trip as secretary of state, said one former official who was also briefed on the plan. All were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss travel plans.
All individuals also emphasized that travel plans were tentative.
Late Wednesday night, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce confirmed the overall travel plan and said Rubio chose the Western Hemisphere as a priority because "that's where we live.
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"We will not continue to ignore the region as other administrations have done," Bruce said. "Engaging with our neighbors is a vital element in addressing the challenges of migration, supply chains and economic growth, which are key to Secretary Rubio's foreign policy commitment to making America strong, prosperous and secure.
Rubio is expected to use the trip to highlight at least two issues at the top of MAGA's foreign policy agenda: reducing illegal immigration and Trump's push to reclaim the Panama Canal, according to a current and former official.
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Panamanian officials angry at Trump's comments about a strategically important waterway.
"The Panama Canal belongs to Panama and will belong to Panama," Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino said at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week. "The Panama Canal is not a concession or a gift from the United States.
Other countries Rubio plans to visit, including Guatemala and El Salvador, have also served as major transshipment points for migrants trying to reach the southern U.S. border.
In one of his first memos to State Department officials, Rubio called mass migration "one of the most important issues of our time" and said that under his leadership, the department would work with countries in the Western Hemisphere to reduce illegal immigration and negotiate the "repatriation of undocumented immigrants.
