Donald Trump returned to the US presidency on January 20 with a flurry of executive orders. This included the designation of criminal gangs and drug cartels operating south of the Mexico border as “foreign terrorist organisations” – a first for a US president. The state department will now decide which groups are added to the list.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Friday said that U.S. President Donald Trump's decree earlier this week that drug cartels based in the country are terrorist groups "won't help,

Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum said that Donald Trump’s decision to classify drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations won’t reduce crime, urging the new US president to work with her nation on security and drug prevention instead.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will make his first official trip abroad next week to Central America, including a stop in Panama, which President Donald Trump has riled with talk of trying to reclaim the Panama Canal.

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.