When Marco Rubio arrives in Latin America this weekend on his first foreign trip as U.S. President Donald Trump's secretary of state, he'll find a region reeling from the new administration's shock-and-awe approach to diplomacy.
In the first days of Trump's second term, the new president has doubled down on his intention to reclaim the Panama Canal, angered Brazilians by returning migrants in shackles and briefly imposed crushing sanctions and tariffs on Colombia in a tussle over deportee flights.
Rubio's first stop will be Panama City as the Trump administration shifts back Washington's focus to Latin America, aiming to counter the already extensive Chinese influence in the region and stem migration.
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