Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in Panama on Sunday on his first foreign trip since being sworn in and met with President José Raúl Mulino to discuss the Panama Canal.
President Trump had been threatening to “take back” the Panama Canal, but Mulino said after meeting with Rubio that he did not see a serious threat of US military action despite some strong comments.
“I don’t feel that there is any real threat at this time against the treaty, its validity, or much less of the use of military force to seize the canal,” Mulino told reporters after the meeting.
Trump has set his sights on the Panama Canal over claims that it’s controlled by China, an accusation that lacks evidence and that Panamanian officials have strongly denied.
The US claim appears to be based on the fact that two ports on either side of the canal are operated by CK Hutchinson, a company based in Hong Kong. Other nearby ports are run by companies based in the US, Taiwan, and Singapore.
Panamanian officials suspect Trump’s real motive is to reduce Chinese investments in Panama to make opportunities for US companies and potentially negotiate cheaper transit fees for US ships. According to the State Department, Rubio warned the US would take action if Panama didn’t reduce “Chinese influence” in the canal.
“Secretary Rubio informed President Mulino and Minister Martínez-Acha that President Trump has made a preliminary determination that the current position of influence and control of the Chinese Communist Party over the Panama Canal area is a threat to the canal and represents a violation of the Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal,” the State Department said in a readout of the meeting.
“Secretary Rubio made clear that this status quo is unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights under the Treaty,” the statement added.
According to The Associated Press, Mulino did say that Panama wouldn’t renew its agreement with China on Beijing’s global infrastructure project, known as the Belt and Road Initiative. Panama joined the BRI in 2017 after it severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan and opened up with Beijing under President Juan Carlos Varela.
Mulino is a fool if he trust trump. There is a long list of people who did and got burnt.
Also, the U.S. did invade Panama once a few decades ago. The invasion was over the canal, and how Noriega tried to use it for leverage against the Bush Sr. administration. Panama has limitations on how it "runs" the canal.
My recollection is that the canal-related part of the excuse for the invasion was secondary — that they were afraid Noriega would sabotage the canal after relations had already gone way south over other issues relating to Noriega’s increasing independence from US “guidance.”
A friend of mine from boot camp was the only US Marine killed in that stupid little war.
Sorry to hear that about your friend. An awful claim-to-fame.
Exactly. The canal was at the heart of that invasion.
It wasnt really over the canal, although control of it was important to US interests.. I found a source on it:
"Noriega was recruited as an informant by the CIA while he was a student in Lima, Peru, an arrangement that continued for many years. Although he had a reputation as a thug and violent sexual predator, he was deemed useful to U.S. intelligence and attended military intelligence training both in the U.S. and at the infamous U.S.-funded School of the Americas, known as the "school for dictators," in Panama. By 1981, Noriega was receiving $200,000 per year for his intelligence services for the CIA.
As it had done with Torrijos, the U.S. tolerated Noriega's authoritarian rule because dictators guaranteed the stability of Panama, even if it meant widespread repression and human rights abuses. Furthermore, Panama was a strategic ally in the U.S. fight against the spread of communism in Latin America during the Cold War. The U.S. looked the other way with regards to Noriega's criminal activity, which included drug smuggling, gun running, and money laundering, because he provided assistance with the covert Contra campaign against the socialist Sandinistas in neighboring Nicaragua.
There were a number of factors that contributed to the U.S. ultimately turning against Noriega. First, the Herrera crisis: Noriega was scheduled to step down in 1987 as head of the PDF and install Roberto Diáz Herrera, in an agreement he made with other military officers in 1981, following Torrijos' death. Nonetheless, in June 1987, Noriega refused to step down and forced Herrera out of his inner circle, stating he would remain as head of the PDF for the next five years. Herrera called a press conference, accusing Noriega of involvement in Torrijos' death and in the murder of Hugo Spadafora. This led to major street protests against the regime, and Noriega sent out a special riot unit called the "Dobermans" to subdue the demonstrators, and imposed a state of emergency.
The U.S. began to scrutinize Noriega's drug-trafficking activities more publicly as a result of these events. While the U.S. had known about these activities for years—and Noriega had even established close relationships with officials in the DEA—the Reagan administration had turned a blind eye because Noriega was an ally in its Cold War agenda. Nonetheless, in the wake of Noriega's repressive measures, critics publicized his drug-trafficking activities and the U.S. could no longer ignore them."
https://www.thoughtco.com/operation-just-cause-us-invasion-of-panama-4783806
All of those things are accurate. However, the canal was at the epicenter of the invasion because he was threatening to use the canal as a way to blackmail the U.S. The U.S. has never cared about thugs running a country, but when the threaten a vital asset, the canal, that's a different story.
Indeed, you're right. Loss of the control of the CIA puppet thug meant loss of the canal.
Edited: The drug smuggling and money laundering would have made some powerful US people involved come into the spotlight. The US couldn't have that as they continued their fake war on drugs.
There can be no doubt that the operation of the two ports is laid down in contracts.
And, Mr. President, now that you are checking "Chinese Influence", what about your buddy Musk, who produces and sell his cars in….China?
China is now world number one electric car producer…! They should kick Musk out of main land…!
What Rights…?!
The right that I do know from the treaty is US warships get priority when using the canal.
The best way to preserve that treaty and the obligations under it is to not piss off the Panamanians and push them toward likely future military adversaries.
Now I envision Trump seeing an opportunity to have American industry dig a Border Canal to replace his Border Wall fantasy & get Mexico to pay for it (again).
Neutrality is not a function of who's where, it's the tendency to not take a side in a conflict. But in Panama there is no conflict, and not even any proof of a country being biased when ship movements occur.
Trump : "China controls the Panama Canal, not Panama !"
also Trump : threatens the US will take control of the Panama Canal from Panama.