Panama’s President Jose Mulino, left, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrive for a gathering on the presidential palace in Panama Metropolis, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. —AP Picture/Mark Schiefelbein/Pool
PANAMA CITY — US Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed Panama’s president in a face-to-face assembly Sunday that the Central American ally should cut back alleged Chinese language affect over the Panama Canal space or the Trump administration would take “measures essential” to take action.
Rubio, on his first overseas journey as America’s prime diplomat, held talks with President Jose Raul Mulino, who has resisted strain from the brand new US authorities over Panama’s administration of the waterway that’s important to international commerce.
The US State Division mentioned in a abstract of the assembly that Rubio had knowledgeable Mulino that President Donald Trump believed the present state of affairs on the canal was “unacceptable and that absent quick adjustments, it could require america to take measures essential to guard its rights” below a US treaty with Panama.
A day after Trump introduced he was imposing main tariffs on Canada and Mexico, prompting retaliation from these international locations, Rubio was taking maybe a much less confrontational and extra diplomatic strategy cordially greeting Panama’s overseas minister, though neither he nor President José Raúl Mulino spoke publicly at their assembly.
Rubio then deliberate to tour an power facility and later the canal, the thing of Trump’s intense curiosity.
Article continues after this commercial
Mulino has mentioned there will probably be no negotiation with the U.S. over possession of the canal, and a few Panamanians have staged protests over Trump’s plans.
Article continues after this commercial
On Sunday, about 200 individuals marched in Panama Metropolis, carrying Panamanian flags and shouting “Marco Rubio out of Panama,” “Lengthy stay nationwide sovereignty” and “One territory, one flag” whereas the assembly was occurring. Some burned a banner with pictures of Trump and Rubio after being stopped wanting the presidential palace by riot police.
Mulino mentioned he hoped Rubio’s go to would concentrate on shared pursuits akin to migration and combating drug trafficking. Rubio’s journey, nonetheless, comes as a US overseas assist funding freeze and stop-work orders have shut down US-funded applications concentrating on unlawful migration and crime in Central American international locations.
Rubio will probably be urgent Trump’s prime focus—curbing unlawful immigration—however has additionally mentioned he will probably be bringing the message that the US needs to reclaim management over the Panama Canal regardless of intense resistance from regional leaders to fight China’s rising affect within the hemisphere.
In a Wall Avenue Journal opinion piece on Friday, Rubio mentioned mass migration, medicine and hostile insurance policies pursued by Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela have wreaked havoc, and port services on the both finish of the canal are run by a China-based firm, leaving the waterway weak to strain from the Beijing authorities.
“We’re going to handle that matter,” Rubio mentioned a day earlier. “The president’s been fairly clear he needs to manage the canal once more. Clearly, the Panamanians are usually not huge followers of that concept. That message has been introduced very clear.”
The American-built canal was turned over to the Panamanians in 1999 they usually object strongly to Trump’s demand at hand it again.
Regardless of Mulino’s rejection of any negotiation over possession, some imagine Panama could also be open to a compromise below which canal operations on each side are taken away from the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Ports firm, which was given a 25-year no-bid extension to run them. An audit into the suitability of that extension is already below manner and will result in a rebidding course of.
What’s unclear is whether or not Trump would settle for the switch of the concession to an American or European firm as assembly his calls for, which seem to cowl extra than simply operations.
Your subscription couldn’t be saved. Please strive once more.
Your subscription has been profitable.
Rubio’s journey, which can even take him to El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, comes amid a freeze in U.S. overseas help. The State Division mentioned Sunday that Rubio had permitted waivers for sure essential applications in international locations he’s visiting however particulars of these weren’t instantly obtainable.
