Secretary of State Marco Rubio made clear that when President Donald Trump speaks of America First, that means that the U.S. needs to prioritize problems closer to home.
In an opinion piece published in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Rubio said it was “no accident that my first trip abroad as secretary of state, to Central America on Friday, will keep me in the hemisphere. “
“This is rare among secretaries of state over the past century,” Rubio pointed out. “For many reasons, U.S. foreign policy has long focused on other regions while overlooking our own. As a result, we’ve let problems fester, missed opportunities and neglected partners. That ends now.”
Rubio spoke of Trump’s agenda emphasizing securing the nation’s borders and “reversing the disastrous invasion abetted by the last administration,” adding, “We need to work with countries of origin to halt and deter further migrant flows, and to accept the return of their citizens present in the U.S. illegally.”
“We see a prosperous region rife with opportunities,” he declared. “We can strengthen trade ties, create partnerships to control migration, and enhance our hemisphere’s security. El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic — the countries I will visit on this trip — all stand to benefit tremendously from greater cooperation with the U.S.”
“These nations were neglected by past administrations that prioritized the global over the local and pursued policies that accelerated China’s economic development, often at our neighbors’ expense,” he noted.
“Covid exposed the fragility of America’s dependence on far-flung supply chains,” he recalled. “Relocating our critical supply chains to the Western Hemisphere would clear a path for our neighbors’ economic growth and safeguard Americans’ own economic security. … As our regional partners build themselves up, they can more easily resist countries such as China that promise much but deliver little.”
Speaking of mass migration to the United States and the ever-present danger of drug cartels, he continued, “Illegitimate regimes in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela are intentionally amplifying the chaos. All the while, the Chinese Communist Party uses diplomatic and economic leverage — such as at the Panama Canal —t o oppose the U.S. and turn sovereign nations into vassal states.”
“I am confident that the countries I will soon visit will be ready partners,” he asserted. “Like President Trump, their leaders are pragmatists who put their citizens first. And because they are pragmatists, they also know that there is much more to be gained from working with the U.S. than not.”
“The threats Mr. Trump was elected to stop are threats to the nations of our hemisphere as well,” he stated. “We share a common home. The safer, stronger and more prosperous that home becomes, the more all our nations stand to benefit. Together, there are few limits to what we can accomplish.”
