US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced he is the new acting head of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in an attempt to end "insubordination" at the agency, AFP reported, citing BNR.
"I am the acting director of USAID", Rubio told reporters, adding that the US agency had failed to respond to questions and that "this level of insubordination makes it impossible to conduct a serious review" of its activities.
Marco Rubio made his statement during his visit to El Salvador, part of his tour of five Central American countries.
The US Secretary of State arrived in El Salvador from Panama, where the focus of his talks with the president was on the Panama Canal and immigration.
Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino on Sunday agreed to withdraw his country from China's "One Belt, One Road" development and infrastructure initiative after Rubio warned him to reduce China's role in the Panama Canal or face US retaliation, the AP reported.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that after his visit he expressed hope that Panama would adequately respond to US concerns about Chinese influence in the Panama Canal, AFP reported.
"It was a useful visit and very respectful. I think it will do some potentially good things that will ease the concerns that we have," Rubio said after arriving in El Salvador from Panama.
On immigration, Rubio today highlighted the cooperation of Panama, which has been accepting flights with deportees from third countries and has been turning migrants back before they reach the United States.
"This is an effective way to stem the flow of illegal migration, of mass migration that is destructive and destabilizing," Rubio said. "And that would not have been possible without the strong partnership that we have here with our friends and allies in Panama. And we will continue to do that."
Panamanian immigration officials say they have conducted 44 deportation flights involving nearly 2,000 migrants since signing a financial support agreement with the United States when Mulino took office last July. The majority of those returned home were Colombians, followed by Ecuadorians.
The State Department said such deportations send a strong deterrent message and that the United States has provided Panama with nearly $2.7 million in financial assistance for flights and tickets.
"Mass migration is one of the greatest tragedies of the modern era," said Marco Rubio. "It impacts countries around the world. We recognize that many of the people who seek mass migration often become victims and the subject of cruel and unjust treatment along the way, and that is not good for anyone," added the US secretary of state.
A major topic of Rubio's talks in El Salvador was also mass immigration.