US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has arrived in Mexico to begin a six-day trip to Latin America. He will then continue on to Argentina, Peru, Colombia and Jamaica. The US State Department says Tillerson will focus on regional economic growth, security and democracy building. Franc Contreras reports from Mexico City.

On the one-year anniversary of his job as U.S. Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson is embarking on a trip to improve relations with Latin America. His first stop - Mexico. Tillerson will meet with Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Videgaray and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. Speaking in Austin, Texas, just before traveling to Mexico, Tillerson said economic prosperity in Latin America goes hand-in-hand with regional security. And he said modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement, which includes Mexico, is a top U.S. priority.

REX TILLERSON US SECRETARY OF STATE "I understand how important NAFTA is for our economy and then the continent. But there is no surprise that an agreement putting in place 30 years ago, before the advance of the digital age and the digital economy, before Chinese rise as the second economy, the NAFTA needs to be modernized."

After a short stay in Mexico, Tillerson travels to Argentina, then Peru, Colombia and Jamaica. The top U.S. diplomat is expected to use his time in the region to build a coalition that would levy political and economic sanctions against the governments of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela and Raul Castro in Cuba. US President Donald Trump's language in reference to Mexico and other parts of Latin America stand in stark contrast to Tillerson's conciliatory tone. Trump insists on building what he calls a great border wall that would further separate Mexico from the US. And in his State of the Union address earlier this week, Trump emphasized his plans for a continued U.S. crackdown on immigrants. Many Latin Americans read that as a focus on people coming from their region. Luz Maria de la Mora is an expert on U.S. and Latin American diplomacy. She says it's time for all sides to see that the U.S. and Latin American nations are permanent neighbors.

LUZ MARIA DE LA MORA LATIN AMERICA RELATIONS ANALYST "I think this will be a visit in which we'll be able to express and explain our concerns, to explain our limits, and also to try to maintain the dialogue and the communication with I think it is extremely important to avoid unnecessary crisis; if we can set those limits very clearly I think will be good enough."

Latin American political observers say, the key is avoiding a political crisis with the Trump administration at all costs, and do everything possible to keep these relationships moving forward. FC, CGTN, Mexico City.