Panama Canal Negotiations in Focus as Rubio Visits Central America

‘It is not in the national interest of the United States to have a canal we paid for and we built used as a leverage and a weapon against us,’ Rubio said.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio deplanes at the international airport in Panama City on Feb. 1, 2025. Mark Schiefelbein/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio kicked off his trip to Latin America, arriving in Panama on Feb. 1, with a focus on the Panama Canal and China’s intrusion into the zone.

“Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic from February 1–6 to advance President [Donald] Trump’s America First foreign policy,” the U.S. Department of State said in a Jan. 31 statement.