(MENAFN- Newsroom Panama)
Panama has complained to the United Nations over US President Donald Trump's“worrying” threat to seize the Panama Canal, even as it launched an audit of the Hong Kong-linked operator of two ports on the interoceanic waterway. In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the government in Panama City referred to an article of the UN Charter precluding any member from“the threat or use of force” against the territorial integrity or Political independence of another. The news release, distributed to reporters, urges Guterres to refer the matter to the UN Security Council, without asking for a meeting to be convened. Trump, in his inaugural address, repeated his complaint that China was effectively“operating” the Panama Canal through its growing presence around the waterway, which the United States handed over at the end of 1999.
“We didn't give it to China, we gave it to Panama. And we're taking it back,” Trump said. Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino hit back that the canal was not a gift from the United States during a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.“We reject in its entirety everything that Mr. Trump has said. First because it is false and second because the Panama Canal belongs to Panama and will continue to belong to Panama,” Mulino said. The president has previously denied that any other nation was interfering in the canal, which he said was operated on a principle of neutrality. Asked about the spat, Beijing denied it had ever“interfered” in the canal. “China has always respected Panama's sovereignty over the canal and recognized the canal as a permanent neutral international waterway,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
The Panamanian comptroller's office that oversees public entities announced“an exhaustive audit” would be launched“aimed at ensuring the efficient and transparent use of public resources” at the Panama Ports Company. The company, part of Hutchison Ports, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings, operates the ports of Balboa and Cristobal on either end of the canal. The comptroller's office said the aim was to determine whether the company was complying with its concession agreements, including adequate reporting of income, payments and contributions to the state. Hutchison Ports PPC said in a statement that it has“maintained and will continue to maintain a transparent and collaborative relationship” with Panamanian authorities.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to comply with all laws and regulations, fully exercising our contractual responsibilities,” the firm said.“Our financial results, audited by an independent external auditor, have been shared annually with our partner, the Panamanian State, ensuring trust and clarity in our management.” Trump has been raising pressure for weeks over the canal, through which 40 percent of US container traffic travels. He has refused to rule out using military force to reclaim it. The Panama Ports Company's concession agreement was extended by 25 years in 2021. The United States is the canal's main user, followed by China. Since 2000, the waterway has contributed more than $30 billion to Panama's state coffers, including nearly $2.5 billion in the last fiscal year.
US Senate Commerce Committee begins hearing on Panama Canal
The United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, chaired by Republican Senator Ted Cruz (pictured above), is holding a hearing entitled“Tariffs and Foreign Influence: Examining the Panama Canal and its Impact on U.S. Commerce and National Security.” At the beginning of the hearing, Cruz said that they cannot allow“US shipping companies to be extorted” and“turn a blind eye when Panama is exploiting a strategic route.” The hearing takes place amid diplomatic tension between Panama and the United States, after US President Donald Trump said he would take back control of the Panama Canal, alluding to alleged Chinese influence. Trump's messages have been rejected by Panama. President José Raúl Mulino has reiterated that the Canal belongs to Panamanians and that it is not negotiable.
US Secretary Rubio to Visit Panama amid Canal Tensions
Marco Rubio will make his first trip as US secretary of state to Central American nations including Panama, a spokeswoman said Thursday, after President Donald Trump threatened to seize the Panama Canal and clamped down hard on migration. Rubio, the first Hispanic and first fluent Spanish speaker in the top US diplomatic position, will be the first secretary of state to travel first to Latin America in more than two decades. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Rubio would travel starting late next week to Panama as well as Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.“It's about making sure that if we're going to be safe and prosperous and in good shape, we've got to have an interest in our neighbors - and in today's world, it's certainly South and Central America,” Bruce said.
“There's a reason why this is the first trip. It signals how seriously he takes it,” she said. Bruce did not describe the details of any expected conversations on the Panama Canal. Trump in his inaugural address, vowed that the United States would be“taking it back.” Rubio in his confirmation hearing did not suggest military force but said the United States needed to address serious concerns about Chinese influence near the vital waterway between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Panama, which has long been friendly to the United States, complained to the United Nations over Trump's threat. President Jose Raul Mulino, during a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said that the canal“belongs to Panama and will continue to belong to Panama.”
Jason Marczak, director of the Latin America Center at the Atlantic Council think tank, said while Mulino has to respond to his domestic audience, Panama has been tightly aligned with the United States on issues including Ukraine and Israel. Panama would likely welcome US efforts on the canal if that is in the form of ramping up US investment, he said. “In a broader sense, there is an incredible opportunity for strengthening the US-Panama relationship,” Marczak said. He called the decision to travel first to Latin America“incredibly significant.”“These are all countries that want to work with the United States,” he said, adding that countries likely recognized that Trump's language was part of a“broader negotiating tactic.”
Trump - who during his campaign said that immigrants were“poisoning the blood of our country” - has put a top priority on halting undocumented migration into the United States. The Central American nations of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras - torn by endemic violence, poverty, and natural disasters exacerbated by climate change - have been among the top sources of migration, along with Venezuela and Haiti. Trump's predecessor Joe Biden vowed to look at the root causes of migration. Trump has quickly put an emphasis on enforcement, suspending a Biden program that gives asylum seekers a chance to make their case in an orderly way and threatening to use the military to help secure the US-Mexico border.
The Trump team has been especially close to El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, who has ruthlessly and lethally cracked down on crime. The president's son Donald Trump Jr. attended Bukele's second inauguration last year. Rubio's decision to visit Guatemala likely marks a continuation of US support for President Bernardo Arevalo, a once-obscure anti-corruption advocate who pulled off an upset election victory in 2023. The Biden administration hailed Arevalo's victory and quickly moved to work with him as he pushed back against an entrenched elite that sought to stop him from taking office. Arevalo's opponents sought an alliance with pro-Trump hardliners who refused to recognize Biden's 2020 victory. But Arevalo will likely find common cause with Rubio, a longtime China hawk, as Guatemala is the most populous country that recognizes Taiwan, the self-governing democracy claimed by Beijing.
US has Options to Address Chinese Influence in Panama, US Official Says
The flags of Panama and China are seen during a meeting held with Chinese and Panamanian companies to sign several trade agreements, in Panama City, Panama
WASHINGTON, Jan 27 – The head of the Federal Maritime Commission will tell a U.S. Senate committee that the United States has options to address the growing presence of China and Chinese firms in Panama. President Donald Trump has vowed that the United States would take back the Panama Canal but has given no further details on when or how he intended to reclaim the canal – which is the sovereign territory of an ally. “We need to increase support for American companies seeking to do business in Panama and throughout the Americas. Chinese companies must not be the sole bidders on contracts,” Federal Maritime Commission Chair Louis E. Sola said in written testimony to be presented on Tuesday at the Senate Commerce Committee hearing on the Panama Canal.
Sola added that“Chinese companies have been able to pursue billions of dollars in development contracts in Panama, many of which were physical infrastructure projects, some on or adjacent to the Panama Canal.” Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz said ahead of the hearing:“The United States paid for and built the Panama Canal, but Panama is treating America unfairly and ceding control of key infrastructure to China.” Previously, Trump has refused to rule out possible use of military force, drawing criticism from Washington's Latin American friends and foes alike. In Sola's testimony, he said:“The United States is not without options in addressing the growing presence of China and Chinese companies in Panama and throughout the Americas.
Nor are we without options as they relate to the continued viability of the Canal.” He also said it was crucial to protect the independence of the Panama Canal Authority. Panama's president, Jose Raul Mulino, said last week that Panama has administered the canal responsibly for world trade, including for the United States, and that it“is and will continue to be Panamanian.” In August of last year, Sola and the FMC's then-chair, Dan Maffei, visited Panama and met with Mulino after drought conditions seriously impacted canal operations. Maffei said in written testimony to be presented to the Senate committee, that Panama's rainy season last year has fortunately alleviated acute water-supply issues“for the time-being and restored normal transit volumes.” More than 40% of U.S. container traffic, valued at roughly $270 billion annually, transits the Panama Canal.
Google Maps will Rename Gulf of Mexico as Gulf of America in US
Google has confirmed it will rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America on Google Maps in the US, after an executive order from Donald Trump. It will remain the Gulf of Mexico in Mexico, while users outside of the US and Mexico will see both names on Google Maps. The Alaskan peak Denali, the tallest mountain in North America, will also be changed to Mount McKinley in the US in line with Trump's executive order on 20 January. “We have a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government,” said Google in a post on X. Explaining the different labels for the gulf in the US, Mexico and the rest of the word, Google added:“When official names vary between countries, Maps users see their official local name.
Everyone in the rest of the world sees both names. That applies here too.” The US president ordered the name changes as part of a flurry of executive actions hours after taking office, making good on a campaign promise. “As directed by the president, the Gulf of Mexico will now officially be known as the Gulf of America and North America's highest peak will once again bear the name Mount McKinley,” the interior department said in a statement last week. Google said it would update its Maps service once the names were updated in the US government's geographic names information system.
Reacting to Trump's pledge shortly before his inauguration to rename the Gulf of Mexico, the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum (pictured above), jokingly suggested this month that North America, including the US, should be renamed as well. She suggested“América Mexicana”, or“Mexican America”, because an 1814 founding document that preceded Mexico's constitution used that name.
Visa appointments at US Embassy in Colombia Canceled
Colombia's President Gustavo Petr o
The U.S. Embassy in Colombia canceled Visa appointments on Monday with people seeking entry into the United States, the latest chapter in a nasty battle between the two countries sparked by Colombia's initial refusal to accept military flights filled with deportees sent by President Trump. Colombians seeking approval for extended U.S. travel were turned away from the embassy in Bogotá after being handed letters that said their appointments had been canceled“due to the Colombian government's refusal to accept repatriation flights of Colombian nationals”. Some have been waiting for appointments for two years, and those who were denied consultations on Monday likely will have to wait an additional three months to schedule a new date for visa review.
Trump had preemptively imposed tariffs and a travel ban on the Latin American country Sunday for not accepting deportation flights on military aircraft. Colombia's President Gustavo Petro said he would allow American planes into the nation on Monday, which prompted Trump to drop the sanctions. Some people seeking visas for travel to the U.S. blamed their country's leader for the mess.“President Petro did not represent our interests,” Elio Camelo, a U.S. visa seeker from the city of Cali who had traveled to Bogotá for his appointment. Trump vowed to start mass deportations once he took office during his presidential campaign, and he appears to be trying to fulfill that goal in his first weeks in office.
Previous presidents have also flown deportees back to their home countries, though Trump's decision to use military flights is new. Last year, Colombia accepted 124 deportation flights on chartered planes organized by US government contractors, according to the AP. “President Trump will continue to fiercely protect our nation's sovereignty, and he expects all other nations of the world to fully cooperate in accepting the deportation of their citizens illegally present in the United States,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
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