China's expanding footprint in Latin America is expected to be high on the agenda when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visits Panama next week on his first overseas trip since taking office, according to observers.

Marco Rubio will head overseas late next week; he's also scheduled to visit Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

Beijing’s efforts to expand its reach in the country have hit several obstacles, in part because of American pressure.

President-elect Donald J. Trump’s threat to take back the Panama Canal may be posturing, but it could dampen the Panamanian government’s wish to broaden relations with the United States, analysts say.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit to Central America comes after President Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to take the Panama Canal back.

Hutchinson Ports - a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings - operate ports on either extreme of the 82-kilometer waterway.

Marco Rubio will travel to Panama on his first trip abroad as secretary of State. The visit comes as Donald Trump looks to reclaim Panama's canal.

China got only one mention in US President Donald Trump's inaugural address on Monday, but the comment was threatening - especially to a country much closer to America. Suggesting that China's operations in the Panama Canal constituted a degree of ownership of the Central American waterway,

When devising the executive branch of government in 1789 the founding fathers of the American constitution were anxious to avoid creating an all-powerful monarch like the English king from whom they had declared independence a few years earlier in the American war of independence in 1776.

Donald Trump never ceases to surprise. During a Saturday rally in Nevada, the American President stated that the United States "might be an enlarged country pretty soon." Previously, Trump's comments included a desire to take control over Greenland and the Panama Canal,

Donald Trump never ceases to surprise. During a Saturday rally in Nevada, the American President stated that the United States "might be an enlarged country pretty soon." Previously, Trump's comments included the desire to take control over Greenland and the Panama Canal,