Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Central America for his first trip as the top US diplomat. Rubio is expected to depart late next week for Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.

Rubio is expected to visit Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic, according to the Department of State

He was a popular TV journalist when elected as El Salvador’s first modern-day leftist leader in 2009, but he went into exile hounded by corruption charges.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is paying much-needed attention to Latin America.. But his mission statement has key omissions

Rubio's stop in Panama also comes as Trump in recent weeks has said he wants the Panama Canal back under U.S. control, claiming that “American ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly in any way,

Last year's increase nearly doubled El Salvador's inbound tourist numbers in comparison to the period from 2013 to 2016.

Traditionally, when US secretaries of state make their international debuts, they travel to major US allies and offer bromides about working together.

When Marco Rubio arrives in Latin America this weekend on his first foreign trip as Donald Trump's secretary of state, he'll find a region reeling from the new administration's shock-and-awe approach to diplomacy.

Costa Rica, a gem in Central America known for its biodiversity and stable democracy, has a storied past that led to its independence. The journey to

Munilo told reporters that the David and Goliath fight that Trump has pushed is a non-starter. Panama fought for years to get access to the canal, he said. The territory is neutral, he added, and has remained so through international conflicts well before Trump’s presidency.

When Marco Rubio arrives in Latin America this weekend on his first foreign trip as Donald Trump's secretary of state, he'll