Rubios Mittelamerika -Tour gibt einen Vorgeschmack auf die Außenpolitik unter Trump

**The US secretary of state’s first trip to Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic affirmed that the region is a priority for the Trump administration.**

During a tour of five Central American countries, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made sure it was known that the region was a priority to the United States. Ending his tour on Wednesday, February 5, Rubio’s trip first trip abroad drew attention to Central America, presented by the Trump administration as a source of immigration and a region where China’s presence harms American interests.

The first stop on this tour, in Panama on Sunday, February 2, was the most closely followed, following Trump’s threats to [„take back“ the canal](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2025/02/04/panama-drops-belt-and-road-agreement-with-china-after-us-pressure_6737775_4.html), claiming the neutrality treaty governing it had been violated by the presence of Chinese companies. As soon as Rubio got back on the plane, Panama announced its exit from the Chinese Belt and Road initiative, even though it had been the first Latin American country to join in 2017.

„This decision has far-reaching consequences for Panama, as it totally undermines the excellent relations it had established with China,“ said Marisela Connelly, a China specialist at Colegio de Mexico. „It’s obviously also a blow for the Chinese government, as it had high expectations of relations with Panama.“

Arriving in El Salvador, Rubio was much more relaxed, strolling with President Nayib Bukele by a lake. The „[coolest dictator in the world](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/07/16/el-salvador-in-the-grip-of-the-bukele-system_6055512_4.html),“ as the latter likes to present himself, offered the US his dismal prisons to incarcerate „criminals from any nationality (…) and house them in his jails.“ In exchange for an American contribution, Bukele wants to put to good use his 40,000-place „showcase prison,“ the Terrorism Containment Center, where between 10,000 and 15,000 inmates are locked up, according to NGOs.

**Read the full article here:** [**https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2025/02/07/rubio-s-central-america-tour-gives-a-taste-of-foreign-policy-under-trump_6737886_4.html**](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2025/02/07/rubio-s-central-america-tour-gives-a-taste-of-foreign-policy-under-trump_6737886_4.html)