Panama Will Not Break Relations With China And Free Passage For All US Ships Is An Intolerable Falsehood

(MENAFN- Newsroom Panama) Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino stressed on Thursday February 6 that he would not break diplomatic relations with China despite threats from US President Donald trump to“recover” the Canal due to alleged Chinese influence on the interoceanic route. “No,” Mulino responded bluntly to the question of whether he would break relations with China in the face of pressure from the US, during his Thursday press conference. Trump has threatened to“recover” control of the Panama Canal due to the alleged presence of China and its Communist Party on the interoceanic route, a statement that the Panamanian government has denied on several occasions.

“That story, also badly told, or ill-intentioned, that the Chinese Communist Party is in control of the Canal Administration, for the love of God, they do not believe that even if the Panamanians who were militants of the radical left at the time were resurrected,” Mulino insisted on Thursday. Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Panama at the start of a tour of Central America and amid tensions following Trump's stated intentions to recover the important waterway. As a result of this and in an attempt to lower tensions between the two countries, Panama committed to not renew an important trade agreement with China on the New Silk Road, and the Canal also announced that it would work with the US Navy to“optimize the priority in the transit of its Warships” through the interoceanic route, not to give free passage.

“That decision (not to renew the agreement on the New Silk Road) was made by me, and I made it long before the meeting with Rubio, due to all the background information, and I have allowed myself to evaluate the bilateral relationship with China,” said Mulino today, who nevertheless recalled that the US is its main commercial partner. However, the crisis continues after the US government announced yesterday to the US media that Mulino's administration had agreed not to charge tolls to any of its ships for transiting the Panama Canal, thereby saving“millions of dollars a year.” Hours later, the canal authority and Mulino denied the information, who, visibly angry, described the US statement as an“intolerable falsehood.”

President Mulino Confirms Call with His Counterpart Donald Trump

President José Raúl Mulino confirmed on social media X that tomorrow he will have a telephone conversation with the President of the United States, Donald Trump. “I received confirmation from a senior official a few minutes ago that I will be speaking with President Trump tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.,” the president wrote. Earlier, Mulino, at his usual Thursday press conference, referred to the tensions between the United States and Panama, stating that he had not received an invitation to the bilateral call he would hold this Friday with his counterpart Donald Trump.

Marco Rubio finds it absurd that the US has to pay a fee to travel through an area that the US has an obligation to protect.

He added that he respects the fact that Panama has its processes and emphasized that there is a“democratically elected government that has rules and laws that it has to follow.” The Secretary of State responded after President José Raúl Mulino declared on the morning of February 6 that the State Department issued a statement based on“falsehoods” in reference to the fact that U.S. Navy ships will pass through the Panama Canal without paying tolls. On the night of February 5, the Panama Canal Authority clarified that it has not made adjustments to the tolls of the waterway, as stated in a publication by the United States Department of State.

This ACP statement comes after the U.S. State Department confirmed on the evening of February 5 that its government vessels will be able to transit the Panama Canal free of charge. The authority indicated that in response to this publication by the United States Department of State, it recalled that it is the authority to set tolls and other fees for transiting the Panama Canal. In addition, the United States government said that Panama agreed not to charge its ships for transit through the Panama Canal, thus saving“millions of dollars a year.” The announcement by U.S. authorities comes two days after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio completed a tour of Panama during which he met with Mulino and ACP Administrator Ricaurte Vásquez.

Rubio insisted that the United States has a series of expectations regarding the Panama Canal. He also noted that the United States military would be responsible for defending the waterway if it were threatened or attacked. Rubio said it was absurd that the United States should pay to transit the Panama Canal if it were to defend it in the event of an attack. “That was made clear in the talks, but I understand that Panama has laws and procedures that must be followed,” he insisted. As far as the Panama Canal Authority is concerned,“we will let them follow the course of this process.”

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