The trip by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to countries in the region, including Panama, coincides with President Donald Trump's repeated intention to regain control of the interoceanic canal. Panama is opposed.

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,

The new Secretary of State already has said the Hong Kong-based operator of Panama Canal-adjacent ports could be a “big national security and defense problem.”