The Japan Times - Rubio chooses Central America for first trip amid Panama Canal pressure

Rubio, who is the first Hispanic and first fluent Spanish speaker to serve as the top US diplomat, has vowed to put a top priority on Trump's goal of curbing migration from Central American nations.

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

"It's about making sure that if we're going to be safe and prosperous and in good shape, we've got to have an interest in our neighbors -- and in today's world, it's certainly South and Central America," Bruce said.

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

Bruce did not describe the details of any expected conversations on the Panama Canal. Trump in his inaugural address Monday vowed that the United States would be "taking it back."

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 Trump's threat.

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

- Enforcement against migration -

Trump -- who during his campaign said that immigrants were "poisoning the blood of our country" -- has put a top priority on halting undocumented migration into the United States.

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

Trump's predecessor Joe Biden vowed to look at the root causes of migration. 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 US-Mexico border.

El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, has been a favorite of 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.

Rubio's decision to visit Guatemala likely marks a continuation of US support for President Bernardo Arevalo, a once-obscure anti-corruption advocate who pulled off an upset election victory in 2023.

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

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

Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, on taking office said he would stop State Department work that seeks to "facilitate or encourage mass migration," vowing to pursue Trump's goal of enforcement.

K.Abe--JT