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US secretary of state to visit Panama next week — agency

According to the source, the trip is to underscore "President Donald Trump’s seriousness about taking back the Panama Canal"

NEW YORK, January 23. /TASS/. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to travel to Panama next week following President Donald Trump’s statements that the United States will seek gaining control of the Panama Canal, Bloomberg said, citing a source.

According to the source, the trip is to underscore "President Donald Trump’s seriousness about taking back the Panama Canal."

Apart from Panama, Rubio is expected to visit Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, and El Salvador.

"Normally the first trip by the head of the State Department is to a geopolitically important US ally, with predecessors Antony Blinken going to Japan and Rex Tillerson (US Secretary of State in 2017-2018 - TASS) to Germany," the agency noted.

During his inaugural speech on Monday, Trump said the United States was taking back the Panama Canal as he accused China of "operating" it.

Commissioned in 1914, the Panama Canal was built by the United States and stayed under its control until 1977 when the Torrijos-Carter agreement relinquished American control over the canal by 2000. Today, it remains a major route for the global economy and a key object of US interest.