Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit to Central America comes after President Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to take the Panama Canal back.

Mr Rubio will visit Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Rubio’s Latin American trip highlights the region’s importance to U.S. national security and immigration crisis.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to visit Panama — the country whose canal President Donald Trump has suggested he’d seize — as early as next week, according to three U.S. officials briefed on the plan.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio will make his first official trip abroad next week to Central America, including a stop in Panama, which President Donald Trump has riled with talk of trying to reclaim the Panama Canal.

State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Rubio would travel to Panama as well as Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.

The visit follows controversial remarks by President Donald Trump last month claiming that "wonderful soldiers of China" were operating the Panama Canal "lovingly but illegally." Trump also threatened that the US would "retake" the key canal, which it originally built in the early 20th century.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters Thursday that Rubio’s travel to Panama will be the start of a broader trip through Central America and the Caribbean. This includes ...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to head to Panama soon for his first international trip as the nation’s top diplomat, Fox News has learned.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will pay his first trip starting next week to Central American nations including Panama, where President Donald Trump has threatened to seize the Panama Canal, a spokeswoman said Thursday.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio would travel to Panama and several other countries in the region later next week, his spokesperson said on Thursday.