Panama\u2019s president reiterated on Sunday that Panama\u2019s sovereignty over the Panama Canal is not up for debate, saying that during talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that he had addressed the United States\u2019 concerns over China\u2019s presence around the vital waterway. <\/p>\n
President Ra\u00fal Mulino added however that Panama would not renew a 2017 memorandum of understanding to join China\u2019s overseas development initiative, known as the Belt and Road, and suggested that the deal with China could end early. <\/p>\n
Panama will seek to work with the US on new investments, including infrastructure projects, he said. \u201cI think this visit opens the door to build new relations \u2026 and try to increase as much as possible US investments in Panama,\u201d Mulino told reporters on Sunday after Rubio\u2019s first foreign trip as the United States\u2019 top diplomat. <\/p>\n
Mulino\u2019s comments were followed by a US State Department readout of the meeting, which said Rubio told Panama\u2019s president and Foreign Minister Javier Mart\u00ednez-Acha that concerns over China\u2019s \u201ccontrol\u201d of the Panama Canal may mean the US has to \u201ctake measures necessary to protect its rights\u201d per a longstanding treaty on the neutrality and operation of the canal. <\/p>\n
Under the 1977 treaty, the US returned the canal to Panama\u2019s control with the understanding that the waterway remain neutral. According to the agreement, the US could intervene militarily if the canal\u2019s operations were disrupted by internal conflict or a foreign power. Today, more cargo than ever runs through the canal than it did during the years of US control. <\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump\u2019s repeated and publicly stated desire for the US to retake control of the key waterway has already caused a diplomatic stir, with Mulino repeatedly stating that that Panama\u2019s sovereignty over the canal is not up for debate. <\/p>\n
Mulino said Sunday he doesn\u2019t think there is a real risk that the US would use military force to retake the canal. <\/p>\n
Mulino also said Panamanian authorities are carrying out an audit on a company linked to China that operates two terminals around the canal. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to wait until that audit ends before we can reach our legal conclusions and act accordingly,\u201d Mulino said. <\/p>\n
The company in question is the Panama Ports Company, part of a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings. Hutchinson Ports is one of the world\u2019s largest port operators, overseeing 53 ports in 24 countries, including for other US allies such as the UK, Australia and Canada. <\/p>\n
Mulino also said Panamanian authorities spoke with Rubio about the possibility of expanding a migrant repatriation flight program to remove foreign nationals who don\u2019t have the legal basis to be in Panama, insisting that the US would have to shoulder the costs. <\/p>\n
Asked to clarify if migrants would come to Panama and subsequently be transferred to their respective countries, Mulio said, \u201cYes. Exactly \u2026 We can do that, without a problem, under the total cost of the US. Panama won\u2019t invest a single dollar in it.\u201d <\/p>\n
The program, signed in July, is aimed at reducing irregular migration through the Darien Gap, a mountainous rainforest region connecting South and Central America. The 66-mile (106-kilometer) hike through the Darien brings migrants from Colombia to Panama and is a crucial passage for those hoping to reach the United States and Canada. <\/p>\n
Mulino said Sunday that those repatriated could include migrants from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and other countries. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Panama\u2019s president reiterated on Sunday that Panama\u2019s sovereignty over the Panama Canal is not up for debate, saying that during talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that he had addressed the United States\u2019 concerns over China\u2019s presence around the vital waterway. President Ra\u00fal Mulino added however that Panama would not renew a 2017 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12714,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12713","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}