On his first international trip with the Trump administration, the US Secretary of State Economic development of the region and in the middle of the tensions by the Panama Canal, located in one of the nations that will visit.
The trip to Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, occurs in the middle of a series of illegal immigrants deportations to various countries, such as Colombia, an announced policy and launched from the beginning of the Presidency of Donald Trump and that has been criticized by American bishops.
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In a communication Published on January 31, the Secretary of State indicates that the meetings of Rubio, of Cuban origin, “with senior officials and business leaders will promote regional cooperation around our fundamental shared interests”
According to the text, these are “to stop the illegal migration and a large scale, combat the scourge of transnational criminal organizations and drug traffickers, counteract China and deepen economic alliances to improve prosperity in our hemisphere.”
In a video In Spanish, published in his account of X, Marco Rubio, Casado and father of four children, expressed his joy for this trip and lamented at the same time that “sometimes many of our regional allies felt that they were better being our enemies than our ally. That is no longer the case. ”
American leadership is back! Under the Trump Administration we stand with our regional partners and look forward to working with them. For my first international trip as Secretary of State I am excited to visit Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and the Dominican… pic.twitter.com/8zjzRimgXw
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) January 31, 2025
In that sense, Marco Rubio stressed that “the leadership of our country is back” and “there are many opportunities for joint collaboration. Our bilateral priorities can help end the era of illegal mass immigration, achieve economic growth and reinforce both stability and regional security. ”
Tensions on the Panama Canal
In his inaugural speech, Donald Trump announced his intention to recover the Panama Canal and referred to China’s influence in that place where a good part of world trade passes, with a large number of ships from the United States.
The Archbishop of Panama, Mons. José Domingo Ulloa and the president of Panama, José Raúl Mulino, responded to Trump on the subject.
Mons. Ulloa highlighted the ability of the Panamanians to administer the channel, also calling to demolish “hate walls and resentment and building bridges of peace and justice”, while the president stressed that “the channel is and will continue to be from Panama and its Administration will continue to be under Panamanian control with respect to its permanent neutrality. ”
On January 22, Pope Francis received President Mulino and expressed “his solidarity and support for the cause of Panama by his channel, while highlighting his importance for global trade,” the Vatican said that day.
Walter Sánchez Silva
I am husband since 2008. With my wife we have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before birth. Since I joined ACI Press in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Colonia, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the family’s synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Sinodality, in 2023. I follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers the persecution of the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as the ecclesial news in the region.