By Simon Lewis
SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to meet El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele on Monday as he continues a trip aimed at getting Latin American countries to do more to stem migration to the U.S. southern border.
Bukele is seen by the Trump administration as a key ally in its migration efforts in the region. The Salvadoran president has launched an unflinching security crackdown in his country, arresting more than 80,000 people, and bringing the number of homicides down sharply. His policies are credited by Washington with reducing the number of Salvadorans seeking to enter the U.S. illegally.
Since taking office on Jan. 20, the Trump administration has stepped up the number of migrants the U.S. deports to Latin America, including using military planes for repatriation flights.
Rubio began Monday in Panama, where he watched 43 Colombian migrants who had crossed the Darien Gap, likely bound for the U.S., board an Air Panama charter flight back to Colombia.
Rubio, who has ordered the State Department to prioritize ending mass migration, said repatriating migrants created a disincentive for people to leave their home countries.
“It’s not good for anyone. The only people who benefit from mass migration are traffickers,” Rubio told reporters. He credited Panama’s deportation program, which was agreed in July between Panama and the previous U.S. administration of President Joe Biden, with reducing migration through the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama by 90%.
“Most people who come in here have as a goal eventually making it to the United States, so you could say that at a certain point our border doesn’t begin at Texas or Mexico; it begins a lot farther down,” said Rubio.
Trump has issued a 90-day freeze on U.S. foreign assistance, with limited exceptions. Rubio said a waiver had to be issued for the U.S.-funded flight on Monday and that he would issue a broader waiver to continue the program.
“This is an example of the kind of a foreign assistance program that helps make America stronger and safer and more prosperous,” Rubio said.
Rubio on Sunday held talks with Panamanian officials over China’s presence around the Panama Canal as well as migration.
The U.S. is also pushing Bukele to shun investment from China, which is in talks with El Salvador over a free trade agreement, has funded public projects like a soccer stadium, and has invested in the telecommunications sector.
(Reporting by Simon Lewis, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
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