MEXICO CITY – Key topics such as security, sovereignty, tariffs, trade, drugs, and migration are set to dominate Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s discussions during his third visit to Latin America since taking on the role of the chief U.S. diplomat. These issues are significant for the Trump administration and its Western Hemisphere neighbors.

Rubio’s meetings with Mexican and Ecuadorian leaders on Wednesday and Thursday aim to emphasize the importance of enhanced cooperation with the United States. This collaboration is seen as crucial for boosting health, safety, and security across the Americas and the Caribbean.

However, President Trump has estranged many countries in the region, going beyond typical U.S. adversaries like Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. His relentless demands come with threats of hefty tariffs and sanctions for those not aligning with his agenda.

Mexico has been a focus for Trump

Mexico, which shares a border with the U.S. alongside Canada, has been particularly pressured by Trump. He has extracted certain concessions from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s administration, which is keen to alleviate the looming tariff threats.

Just before Rubio’s scheduled arrival on Tuesday, Sheinbaum was preparing to preside over a significant security meeting. This forum, which gathers all 32 governors, the army, navy, federal prosecutor’s office, and security commanders, focuses on coordinating nationwide security efforts.

For weeks, Sheinbaum discussed the nearing completion of a broad security pact with the State Department. This agreement intends to include the creation of a “joint investigation group” aimed at tackling the influx of fentanyl and its components into the U.S. and the movement of weapons from the north to the south.

“Under no circumstance will we accept interventions, interference or any other act from abroad that is detrimental to the integrity, independence and sovereignty of the country,” she said Monday in her State of the Nation address marking her first year in office.

Last week, however, a senior State Department official downplayed suggestions that a formal agreement — at least one that includes protections for Mexican sovereignty — was in the works.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview Rubio’s meetings, said sovereignty protections were “understood” by both countries without having to be formalized in a document.

Sheinbaum lowered her expectations Tuesday, saying during her morning news briefing that it would not be a formal agreement but rather a kind of memorandum of understanding to share information and intelligence on drug trafficking or money laundering obtained “by them in their territory, by us in our territory unless commonly agreed upon.”

Mexico’s president touts keeping close ties with the US

Of her meeting with Rubio on Wednesday, she said it was always important to maintain good relations with the United States.

“There will be moments of greater tension, of less tension, of issues that we do not agree on, but we have to try to have a good relationship, and I believe tomorrow’s meeting will show that,” Sheinbaum said. “It is a relationship of respect and at the same time collaboration.”

To appease Trump, Sheinbaum has gone after Mexican cartels and their fentanyl production more aggressively than her predecessor. The government has sent the National Guard to the northern border and delivered 55 cartel figures long wanted by U.S. authorities to the Trump administration.

The Trump-Sheinbaum relationship also has been marked by tension, including the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announcing a new initiative with Mexico to combat cartels along the border that prompted an angry denial from Sheinbaum.

Despite American officials singing her praises, and constantly highlighting collaboration between the two countries, Trump glibly said last month: “Mexico does what we tell them to do.”

Migration and cartels are a focus of Rubio’s trip

In announcing the trip, the State Department said Rubio, who has already traveled twice to Latin America and the Caribbean and twice to Canada this year, would focus on stemming illegal migration, combating organized crime and drug cartels, and countering what the U.S. believes is malign Chinese behavior in its backyard.

He will show “unwavering commitment to protect (U.S.) borders, neutralize narco-terrorist threats to our homeland, and ensure a level playing field for American businesses,” the department said.

Rubio’s first foreign trip as secretary of state was to Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, during which he assailed Chinese influence over the Panama Canal and sealed deals with the others to accept immigrant deportees from the United States. Rubio later traveled to Jamaica, Guyana and Suriname.

The senior State Department official said virtually every country in Latin America is now accepting the return of their nationals being deported from the U.S. and, with the exception of Nicaragua, most have stepped up their actions against drug cartels, many of which have been designated foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S.

The official also said progress has been made in countering China in the Western Hemisphere.

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Associated Press writer María Verza in Mexico City contributed to this report.