Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino on Thursday ruled out discussing control over the Panama Canal in a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is set to visit the Central American country in his first official trip abroad this weekend.

Panama President Jose Raul Mulino said Thursday there will be no negotiation with the United States over ownership of the Panama Canal, and he hopes US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's upcoming visit will allow them to focus on shared interests including migration and combating drug trafficking.

Newly inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing to "take back" the Panama Canal, the world's second busiest interoceanic waterway.

While repeating Trump’s lies about Panama, Senate leaders from both parties provide fraudulent justifications for a military intervention against the impoverished Central American country.

By Simon Lewis and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON (Reuters) -When Marco Rubio arrives in Latin America this weekend on his first foreign trip as Donald Trump's secretary of state, he'll find a region reeling from the new administration's shock-and-awe approach to diplomacy.

President Donald Trump's suggestion of the U.S. taking control of the Panama Canal has a legal basis partly due to potential treaty violations involving Chinese activities in Panama.

This is not about acquiring land for the purpose of acquiring land,” Rubio. “This is in our national interest and it needs to be solved.”

China's influence on the Panama Canal is a major risk to U.S. national security, Sen. Ted Cruz told lawmakers during a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill.

Panama has owned and administered the Panama Canal for nearly three decades. President Trump wants to change that to counter growing Chinese influence in Latin America.

Rubio defended Trump's proposed territorial expansions as a 'national interest,' while Denmark and Greenland firmly rejected offers amid concerns over potential military action.

Panama President José Raúl Mulino says there will be no negotiation with the United States over ownership of the Panama Canal