WASHINGTON, United States (CMC) — The United States (US) Department of State says Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, on Wednesday, held brief talks with Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Rubio and Holness discussed “key regional issues and the strong US-Jamaica partnership”.

“Secretary Rubio underscored the important historic and cultural ties between the United States and Jamaica, including the vibrant Jamaican Diaspora,” Bruce said.

“Both leaders encouraged further strengthening of security cooperation while highlighting Jamaica’s efforts to disrupt illicit trafficking and combat organized crime,” she added.

Claiming that American leadership is back in the Western Hemisphere, the new United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier this month that US President Donald J Trump is paying closer attention to the Caribbean and other regional countries in his foreign policy agenda.

“And we’re ready to stand with our regional partners,” said Rubio, a former US senator, who was born in Miami to Cuban immigrants, in a statement. “Putting America first means paying closer attention to our own hemisphere.”

Rubio said his first international trip as secretary of state reflects this.

In his first trip, Rubio travelled to Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, “focusing on mutual priorities will bolster stability, security, and prosperity at home and in our region”.

“American foreign policy has too long focused on other regions while overlooking our own, missing opportunities and neglecting partners and friends,” he said. “That ends now.”

“President Trump’s ambitious American foreign policy agenda begins close to home, with securing our borders,” he added. “Diplomacy is essential to this effort.”

“We need to work with countries across our region to stop further migrant flows and to repatriate all those who are in the United States illegally,” Rubio continued. “These conversations may not always be easy, but they are necessary.”

He said Trump “envisions a prosperous Western Hemisphere full of opportunities”.

“We can strengthen trade ties, create partnerships to control migration and enhance our hemisphere’s security,” he said.

Rubio claimed that mass migration has “destabilised our entire region”.

“Drug cartels — now correctly categorised as foreign terrorist organisations — are taking over our communities, sowing violence and poisoning our families with fentanyl,” he said.

The US Secretary of State said Washington’s approach to foreign policy is based on “concrete shared interests, not vague platitudes or utopian ideologies”.

“It represents the approach the State Department will take from now on,” he said. “We will be willing to extend our hand to all nations of goodwill in the confident expectation they will recognise what we can do together.”

“By making our partnerships safer, stronger and more prosperous, we all stand to benefit,” he added. “That is one of my goals as secretary of state.”