Rubio to visit Central America in late January in first foreign visit

24/1/2025 6:26

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Panama and four other countries in Central America and the Caribbean starting late next week during his first overseas trip as Washington's top diplomat, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said on Thursday.



The trip, which Bruce said will also include stops in Guatemala, El Salvador, Dominican Republic and Costa Rica, comes as President Donald Trump has put immigration at the center of his foreign policy agenda and made a push for the United States to take back the Panama Canal in comments that have angered the Central American country.



"There is a reason why this is the first trip. It signals how serious he takes it, what it's going to mean when it comes to his programs, and how it relates to his commitment to this nation, to address those issues that matter to him, and certainly the issues of the Trump agenda," Bruce told reporters.