BEIJING, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrapped up a visit to five Latin American countries on Thursday, his first foreign trip since he was sworn in as top U.S. diplomat.
Rubio's six-day trip, which covered Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, took place amid U.S. diplomatic spats in the region on issues including migration, the management of the Panama Canal and trade.
WHO WILL ACCEPT U.S. DEPORTEES?
A major task for Rubio on this tour was pushing U.S. hardline immigration policy, and working with regional countries on accepting U.S. deportees and boosting immigration enforcement on their borders.
In Panama City, the initial stop of his trip, Rubio watched a U.S.-funded deportation flight carrying 43 migrants leave from Panama for Colombia in front of the camera on Monday.
Shortly after this rare move, he departed for San Salvador, where he reached an unusual migratory agreement with El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele on the same day.
In addition to continually accepting Salvadoran deportees who have illegally entered the U.S. border, the Central American country has agreed to accept U.S. deportees of any nationality, including American citizens and legal residents who are imprisoned for violent crimes.
On the social platform X, Bukele said his country offered the United States "the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system," adding they would accept only "convicted criminals" and charge a fee that "would be relatively low for the United States but significant for El Salvador."
The deal immediately alarmed rights groups and aroused discussions on the legality of such actions. A day after the deal was unveiled, U.S. President Donald Trump said that he was mulling over Bukele's offer.
"I'm just saying if we had a legal right to do it, I would do it in a heartbeat," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "I don't know if we do or not, we're looking at that right now."
Following El Salvador's offer, Rubio secured a second deportation deal with Guatemala.
On Wednesday, Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo said his country would accept 40 percent more U.S. deportation flights, including migrants from Guatemala and other countries.
Details concerning the increase of the flights would be discussed by working groups to be created, Arevalo told a press conference with Rubio following their meeting in Guatemala City.
Rubio said that the U.S. government would support Guatemala in repatriating migrants not from the Central American country to their homeland.
In Costa Rica, Rubio pledged U.S. support for the immigration enforcement efforts of the country widely used as a migratory corridor, stressing enhanced cooperation in applying biometric technology to identify those who transit through the country's borders.
WHAT'S GOING ON WITH U.S. AND PANAMA CANAL?
Rubio also visited the Panama Canal during his trip, the control over which is a main focus of the current expansionist U.S. administration.
Trump has repeatedly declared his intention to retake control of the Panama Canal if Panama does not decrease transit fees for U.S. ships crossing the artificial waterway connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Panama has rejected the U.S. demand related to the canal.
In his diplomatic mission, Rubio followed up on Trump's threat, warning Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino that Washington would take necessary measures if Panama did not make immediate changes to the "unacceptable" status quo of the canal.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of State claimed on X that U.S. government vessels "can now transit the Panama Canal without charge fees," a statement that was denied by the Panama Canal Authority hours later.
The agency, which is authorized to set tolls and other charges for transiting the canal, said in a statement that "it has made no adjustments to these fees."
The Panama Canal Authority added that it is willing to establish a dialogue with the pertinent U.S. officials concerning the transit of U.S. warships.
Mulino also rejected the U.S. State Department's claim at his weekly press conference on Thursday, saying it is "based on a falsehood and that is intolerable."
Panama's constitution and laws stipulate that neither the government nor the canal authority can waive fees, Mulino added.
Rubio walked back the State Department's claim when he took questions from a joint press release with the president of the Dominican Republic Luis Abinader on Thursday, saying the U.S. administration expects Panama to waive fees.
"I find it absurd that we would have to pay fees to transit a zone that we are obligated to protect in a time of conflict," Rubio said.
"I respect very much the fact that Panama has a process of laws and procedures that they need to follow as it relates to the Panamanian port," he added.
WHAT ELSE?
Rubio vowed support for Costa Rica in confronting crimes associated with drug trafficking, offering the participation of U.S. enforcement in Costa Rican investigations into drug-related criminal activities.
He got a briefing on Guatemala's counternarcotics efforts, and stressed on X the importance of "getting fentanyl precursor out of the hands of criminals."
He also announced plans to support the building of infrastructures in Guatemala, starting with port facilities and roads.
Praising the "impressive work" in anti-drug cooperation between the United States and the Dominican Republic, Rubio highlighted the need to expand security cooperation.
He said his country also wants to strengthen cooperation with the Dominican Republic in energy and technology sectors, especially the development of rare earths and semiconductors.
HOW SOME EXPERTS SEE THE VISIT?
Pavel Aleman Benitez, a researcher with Cuba's International Policy Research Center, said Rubio's destinations are either sources of migration or transit routes for migrants seeking to enter U.S. borders, which shows that the immigration issue is among the new U.S. administration's priorities.
Rubio's tour "seeks cooperation to contain the flow of irregular migrants and make them accept their deportation to their countries of origin," he said, noting that the U.S. government has been using the immigration issue to divert public attention from domestic problems.
Latino immigrants have made notable contributions to the U.S. economy, but their growing community "represents a challenge to the traditional ideal of the most conservative sectors of politics in Washington," thus the deportation is driven not only by economic and social concerns, but underlying political and cultural motivations, the expert said.
Jones Cooper, a professor at the University of Panama, said that by creating fear and exerting pressure to force Panama accept its conditions, the United States is creating an unequal power relationship that deprives Panamanians of the ability to decide the affairs of their country.
By naming key Latin Americanists like Rubio to top positions on his team, the Trump administration shapes up to be Latin America-first to regain U.S. influence in the region, Ryan Berg, director of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote in a recent piece in Foreign Policy.
"With this arsenal of experts on hand, the second Trump administration has the opportunity ... to focus U.S. policy more intently on the Western Hemisphere -- and, in so doing, also shore up its own security and prosperity at home," Berg said.
Speaking to CNN, Emerson College professor Mneesha Gellman said the United States was "essentially proposing to send people to a country that is not the country of origin nor is it necessarily the country that they passed through."
"It is a bizarre and unprecedented proposal ... It's not rooted in any sort of legal provision and likely violates a number of international laws relating to the rights of migrants," Gellman said. ■
