United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Panama’s president that his country must limit what Washington calls Chinese influence over the Panama Canal area or the Trump administration would take “measures necessary” to do so.
Rubio kicked off his first official foreign trip on Sunday with a stop in Panama, a longtime US ally shaken by President Donald Trump’s extraordinary threat to seize the Panama Canal.
The US State Department said in a summary of the meeting that Rubio had informed President Jose Raul Mulino that Trump believed the current situation at the canal was “unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights” under a US treaty with Panama.
The canal is a crucial link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and coasts, with 40 percent of US container traffic going through it.
Trump has refused to rule out military force to seize the Panama Canal, which the US handed over at the end of 1999, saying China has exerted too much control through its investment in surrounding ports.
In his inaugural address last month, Trump said the US will be “taking it back”, and refused to back down on Friday. “They’ve already offered to do many things,” Trump said of Panama, “but we think it’s appropriate that we take it back.”
But Panamanians “seem to be breathing a sigh of relief” for now, as “there were a series of concessions made by Panama and concessions asked also by Panama” at the meeting between Rubio and Mulino, according to Lucia Newman, Al Jazeera’s Latin American editor.
Panama said it will not renew its Belt and Road Initiative agreement with China, said Newman, referring to Beijing’s global infrastructure development strategy.
“President Mulino made it very clear that he had told his American counterparts that the canal itself has no interference … by the Chinese, but the ports on either side … of the canal are controlled by or operated by Chinese companies, and right now they are undergoing an audit for the first time,” she added.
Details of an agreement focused on undocumented migrants are also being ironed out by the two countries, Newman said.
No ‘real threat’: Mulino
Despite Rubio’s forceful words, Mulino said he did not see a serious threat of US military force to seize the canal.
“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 on Sunday.
He instead proposed technical-level talks with the US to address Trump’s concerns about Chinese influence in the canal.
“The technical team can discuss the matter with the United States and clarify any doubts they may have,” Mulino said.
He had earlier ruled out negotiating with the US over ownership of the canal. He said he hoped Rubio’s visit would instead focus on shared interests like migration and combating drug trafficking.
“It’s impossible, I can’t negotiate,” Mulino said on Thursday. “The canal belongs to Panama.”
Despite Mulino’s rejection of any negotiation, some believe Panama may be open to a compromise under which canal operations on both sides are taken away from the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Ports company.
What is unclear is whether Trump would accept the transfer of the concession to an American or European firm as meeting his demands, which appear to cover more than just operations.
Rubio’s mission also comes on the heels of Trump-imposed tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, and the freezing of nearly all US foreign aid – moves that signal a far more aggressive foreign policy.
