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Secretary of State Marco Rubio leaves for his first trip abroad as the main diplomat of the nation on Saturday. Rubio’s first stop at the six -day visit is Panama, since it is proposed to follow the geopolitical agenda of President Donald Trump.
Trump used his inaugural speech to proclaim his intention to “recover” the Panama Canal, and in a call with journalists on Friday, said Latin American envoy Mauricio Claver-Carone Rubio’s main purpose of the trip It would be to restore a “golden age” for the United States.
“This trip means … that era of American greatness and the golden age,” he said, adding that “the 21st century will also be an American century.”
Former President Donald Trump listens to Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Fla., He speaks during a demonstration at the Miami-Dade County Fair and Exhibition in Miami on November 6, 2022. (Joe Raedle/Getty images)
Claver-Carone said that Rubio’s trip to Latin America is the first time that a Secretary of State travels to the region as his first official visit abroad at more than 100 years.
“The last time it happened, I think, it was in 1912, when Philander Chase Knox went to Panama … to supervise the conclusion of the construction and operations of the Panama Canal,” he told reporters. “What a great message to return to that golden age of the Americas, as President Trump has mentioned.”
Rubio is expected to meet with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino.
The couple is expected to discuss migration, fighting drug trafficking and China’s presence on the Panama CanalThat Rubio and Trump have argued that they have been invaded by Chinese companies operating at each end of the crucial river.
The Trump administration has argued that the strict grip of the Chinese Communist Party (PCC) over all Chinese companies means that, in extension, the PCCH is operating outside the canal and could, in theory, close it to the US trade. Uu. A threat significant security.
The new president Panamano José Raúl Mulino greets before giving a speech at his swear ceremony at the Atlapa Convention Center in Panama City on July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Mulino has repeatedly denied that Chinese companies have some influence on the operations of the Panama Canal, and on Thursday he said he would not be negotiating Channel Property With blond.
“It’s impossible, I can’t negotiate,” Mulino said during a press conference on Thursday when asked about the negotiation of the channel control, said Associated Press. “That is done. The channel belongs to Panama.”
Apparently, Mulino demanded the confusion about the control of the channel was attributed to his predecessor, who cut the ties with Taiwan and established diplomatic relations with China in 2017, which eventually allowed a consortium of Hong Kong to operate at both ends of the channel.
Panama argues to control the channel.
The cargo ship of the Marshall Cape Hella Islands, on the left, and the Portuguese cargo ship MSC Elma navigate in Lake Gatun, near the locks of Clara Agua, of the Panama Canal in Colon City, Panama, on the 28th of December 2024. (Arnulfo Franco/AFP through Getty Images)
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Claver-Carone argued that Chinese companies control “everything, from strength and logistics to telecommunications, infrastructure and other”, which, according to him, is not just a security threat to the interests of the interests of the United States on the channel, but for the National Security of Panama and the Western Hemisphere. .
Rubio is also scheduled to visit El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, where he will meet with the presidents of each nation before returning to the United States on Thursday.
Addressing Chinese influence in these countries, together with the violence of gangs, migration and drug trafficking, will also be the upper part of the Rubio agenda.
