News

New U.S. ambassador Kevin Marino Cabrera recently sat down for an interview with a Miami TV station to discuss the state of the relationship between the U.S. and Panama.

For those unfamiliar with the new ambassador, this was one of the first opportunities to hear him discuss many of the big issues in the region, including immigration, drugs, Chinese influence in the area, and President Trump’s comments about the Panama Canal. Carbrera is a former Miami-Dade County Commissioner who headed the President’s re-election campaign in Florida in 2020. 

Ambassador Cabrera said there has been “great collaboration” between the Trump administration and Panama’s government to address many of the regional issues. Cabrera’s interview followed a visit by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who pledged more support for immigration and drug enforcement. He pushed back on the suggestion that Panama hasn’t done enough to stop drug trafficking.

Panama is “number one” in the drug interceptions in the region, the ambassador said. “But they need help.”

The rise of China’s influence in the region is due, in part, to “neglect” by the U.S. “America forgot about the Western hemisphere,” Cabrera said. “We forgot about our neighborhood and focused on other sorts of things.”