Panama and migration

First mission of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio himself has Cuban roots.(Bild: APA/Getty Images via AFP/GETTY IMAGES/Kevin Dietsch)

The new US Secretary of State's first trip abroad is dominated by Donald Trump's rigid migration policy and his Panama Canal plans. Marco Rubio is visiting several Central American countries.

A spokeswoman confirmed the trip, but did not name the individual countries. In addition to migration, the focus will be on supply chains and economic growth. US media reported that stops are planned in Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic from the end of next week.

Donald Trump wants to bring control of the Panama Canal back into US hands.(Bild: APA/AFP/Orlando Sierra)

Rubio, who is the son of Cuban immigrants, had named curbing migration as a priority for his ministry after being sworn in. The former senator from Florida and Trump have already spoken on the phone with colleagues in Costa Rica and El Salvador; the talks also covered the "crisis of mass migration", as one of the messages put it.

In Panama, disgruntlement is likely to dominate the talks in view of Trump's claims to the important waterway. The new president has said bluntly several times in the past two weeks that control of the canal should lie with the USA. In a television interview recorded on Wednesday, he said again: "We will have to take it back." 

Panama turns to the United Nations
Panama's President José Raúl Mulino rejected Trump's threats and claims. Panama's sovereignty and independence are "non-negotiable", he declared. In a letter to the United Nations, UN Secretary-General António Guterres was asked to submit the "worrying threat" to the Security Council.