Marco Rubio visiting Central America with the Panama Canal and immigration top of mind
Marco Rubio demonstrates that the only constant is change. Image via AP.

MARCO RUBIO ASSOCIATED PRESS
Central American leaders still resistant to any U.S. designs on the Panama Canal.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is on his first foreign trip in office.

The nation’s top diplomat arrived in Central America on Saturday to press President Donald Trump’s top priority—curbing illegal immigration—and to convey the message that the U.S. wants to reclaim control over the Panama Canal despite intense resistance from regional leaders.

It’s an unusual destination for the maiden voyage of America’s top diplomat, whose predecessors have generally favored Europe or Asia for their initial outings. It reflects not only the personal interest that Rubio — the first Hispanic to hold the nation’s most senior Cabinet post — has in the region but also the Trump administration’s intent to focus much of its foreign policy energy close to home.

“It’s no accident that my first trip abroad as secretary of state will keep me in the hemisphere,” Rubio wrote in The Wall Street Journal on Friday.

Limiting immigration and fighting narcotics smuggling are significant elements of that effort. Another key priority will be curbing China’s growing influence in the Western Hemisphere, topped by reasserting U.S. control over the Panama Canal. The American-built canal was turned over to the Panamanians in 1999, and they strongly object to Trump’s demand to hand it back.

Mass migration, drugs and hostile policies pursued by Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela have wreaked havoc, Rubio said in the Journal opinion piece. “All the while, the Chinese Communist Party uses diplomatic and economic leverage — such as at the Panama Canal — to oppose the U.S. and turn sovereign nations into vassal states.”

Indeed, Rubio’s first stop on the five-nation tour is Panama on Saturday. The country’s President, José Raúl Mulino, says the United States will not negotiate over canal ownership. He hopes Rubio’s visit will instead focus on shared interests like migration and combating drug trafficking.

Drew Dixon

Drew Dixon is a journalist of 40 years who has reported in print and broadcast throughout Florida, starting in Ohio in the 1980s. He is also an adjunct professor of philosophy and ethics at three colleges, Jacksonville University, University of North Florida and Florida State College at Jacksonville. You can reach him at [email protected].


6 comments

  • EARL PITTS "International Expert" AMERICAN

    February 2, 2025 at 10:36 am

    Good Morn ‘Ting Sage Patriots along with all my “Millions upon Millions: of Registared Democrats who SAW THE LIGHT and voted for Donald Trump. We would not be here today without your votes ….. we would be suffering greatly under the confused mind of President Kamalla Harris and Our Great Nation would most likely be in day three of “WORLD WAR III.
    AND THAT, MY DEAR REGISTARED DEMOCRATS ….. is why you are given the “GREAT HONOR” of being Bestowed With The SAGE HONOR of Forever being “EARL’S BESTY LEFTYS”.
    Moveing on to THE USA CANAL [ FKA THE PANAMA CANAL], America this Re-Patrioting of OUR CANAL is a Slap In Those “Sneaky Round Moon-Faces” [AKA The Chinky Chinky Chinese] & One Of The Bestest Things PRESIDENT TRUMP ever did.
    IN CLOSING:
    MAGA,
    EARL PITTS “International Expert” AMERICAN

    • Victoria Olson

      February 2, 2025 at 11:04 pm

      You are a sadly misinformed person who talks out your ass with no facts only propaganda

    • PeterH

      February 3, 2025 at 12:14 am

      This wingnut champions the golden age of the Monroe Doctrine! Figures! Trump loves his uneducated!

  • Skeptic

    February 2, 2025 at 11:51 am

    Another sad joke. Instead of meeting with leaders of countries that have resources and industrial bases and are being courted by the Chinese (e.g., Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia), Liddle Marco is meeting with tiny Caribbean countries that his boss thinks he can bully. Journalists should call this what it is — a trade junket to the Caribbean; maybe he can convince these leaders to name the Sea after Trump, rather than a long-defunct Indian tribe. Meanwhile, Trump is sending special envoys not under Rubio’s control to important countries throughout the world, including Venezuela (which is actually a Latin American country).

  • PeterH

    February 2, 2025 at 1:14 pm

    Latin America looks to the USA as a market for their produce! Nothing more.

  • Montgomery Lish

    February 3, 2025 at 12:36 am

    Wow.
    It’s obviously not necessary to write or spell correctly in these comments.
    I believe that our current Trump administration is Krapent misguided on how to prevent drug use in the USA.

Comments are closed.


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