A key focus of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to Central America this week — his first trip as America’s top diplomat — will be to counter China’s growing influence in the region, the State Department’s top spokesperson said this week,

Marco Rubio will head overseas late next week; he's also scheduled to visit Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

The new administration's immigration crackdown is likely to be among the top issues during talks, but US President Donald Trump's claim that the Central American nation had ceded control of the Panama Canal to China will also loom large.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will likely travel to Central America in the first week of February, a source familiar with the planning said.

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

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit to Central America aims to counter China's growing influence. Amid President Trump's agenda to 'take back' the Panama Canal, concerns rise over U.S. intentions.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's trip to Central America, including Panama, is partially about countering China, a State Department spokesperson told Fox Business, as new President Donald Trump is pushing to "take back" the Panama Canal.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce told reporters Thursday that ... said there’s a “very legitimate issue” with the Panama Canal, echoing criticism from Trump over China’s influence ...

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Thursday that Rubio will ... calling for the United States to reclaim the Panama Canal. He suggested in his inauguration address on Monday that ...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Panama on his first trip abroad as the top U.S. diplomat after President

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.