By Simon Lewis
SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met El Salvador President Nayib Bukele on Monday as he continues a trip aimed at persuading Latin American countries to do more to stem migration to the U.S. southern border.
Rubio met with Bukele and El Salvador’s foreign minister at Bukele’s residence on Lake Coatepeque just outside the capital.
Bukele, asked after their meeting if the two countries had reached a new “safe third country” agreement for the U.S. to deport migrants from other nations to El Salvador, said they were finalizing an “even larger” agreement, without providing details. He said Rubio would later announce the agreement.
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.
Rubio, a former U.S. senator from Florida, said ahead of the meeting that he had known Bukele for a long time, and praised him for doing “an excellent job of providing security and stability.”
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 to 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%.
President Donald 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 in San Salvador; additional reporting by Kylie Madry and Anthony Esposito; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien and Matthew Lewis)
