Latest news with #US-Panama
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Panama 'firm' on canal as US reportedly weighs options
Panama's government said Thursday it would remain "firm" in defending its sovereignty and the Panama Canal, after a report suggesting that US President Donald Trump is considering options aimed at "reclaiming" the strategic waterway. NBC News, citing two unnamed US officials, said the White House has asked the military to "draw up options for increasing the American troop presence in Panama" -- everything from more US-Panama security cooperation to an actual seizure. The White House and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment on the report, which emphasized that a seizure remained a "less likely" option. "With respect to these statements, I have nothing more to say than that Panama remains firm in defending its territory, its canal, and its sovereignty," Panamanian Foreign Minister Javier Martinez-Acha told reporters. "Let it be clear, the canal belongs to the Panamanians and will remain so," he added. The NBC News report sparked surprise in the central American country, given that there have been no US troops stationed there for more than 25 years. The last US soldier left on December 31, 1999 -- the day the United States, which built the Panama Canal, relinquished control of the crucial shipping route. The United States had invaded Panama a decade earlier to capture dictator Manuel Noriega, whom Washington accused of drug trafficking. Tensions between the United States and Panama have again spiraled over Trump's repeated threats to "take back" the Panama Canal, including by force if necessary. Panama has made several concessions to Trump, including putting pressure on a Hong Kong company that operated ports on the canal to pull out. The company, whose Panama operations formed the basis for Trump's claim that China had undue influence in the interoceanic waterway, eventually sold the ports to a US investment firm. fj/cb/sst
South China Morning Post
21-02-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
US military commander meets Panama Canal administrator to discuss countering China
A US military commander met with Panama Canal administrators on Thursday to discuss ways to 'counter Chinese Communist Party influence'over the critical waterway, the latest visit by a high-ranking American official to the trade channel that US President Donald Trump has said should be under Washington's control. Advertisement Posting photos of the meeting between Alvin Holsey, the new head of US Southern Command [Southcom], and Ricaurte Vásquez, who has served at the Panama Canal's administrator since 2019, on social media, the US embassy in Panama added that the admiral discussed ways to 'protect and secure' the area around the waterway. Panama's president, who was warned about China's influence by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this month, reacted with anger. The trip was Holsey's first to Panama since his promotion to Southcom commandership in November, after his predecessor Laura Richardson retired. Trump sparked a furore over the canal when he claimed during his inauguration speech in January that China controls the canal, which was funded by Washington in the early 20th century and controlled by US authorities until 1999. Rubio, the first senior official of the new administration to visit Panama, repeated that claim during a visit with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino this month. Advertisement Rubio warned Mulino that Washington will 'take measures necessary' if Panama does not immediately take steps to rid the canal of Chinese interests, which he called a threat to the waterway and a violation of the US-Panama treaty that handed control of the channel back to the Central American country.
South China Morning Post
20-02-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
US Southcom head meets Panama Canal administrator to discuss countering China
Igor Patrick in Washington Published: 5:40am, 21 Feb 2025 A US military commander met with Panama Canal administrators on Thursday to discuss ways to 'counter Chinese Communist Party influence'over the critical waterway, the latest visit by a high-ranking American official to the trade channel that US President Donald Trump has said should be under Washington's control. Posting photos of the meeting between Alvin Holsey, the new head of US Southern Command [Southcom], and Ricaurte Vásquez, who has served at the Panama Canal's administrator since 2019, on social media, the US embassy in Panama added that the admiral discussed ways to 'protect and secure' the area around the waterway. Panama's president, who was warned about China's influence by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this month, reacted with anger. The trip was Holsey's first to Panama since his promotion to Southcom commandership in November, after his predecessor Laura Richardson retired. Trump sparked a furore over the canal when he claimed during his inauguration speech in January that China controls the canal, which was funded by Washington in the early 20th century and controlled by US authorities until 1999. Rubio warned Mulino that Washington will 'take measures necessary' if Panama does not immediately take steps to rid the canal of Chinese interests, which he called a threat to the waterway and a violation of the US-Panama treaty that handed control of the channel back to the Central American country.
Arab News
06-02-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Panama president decries US ‘lies' about canal fees
PANAMA CITY: Panama President Jose Raul Mulino on Thursday said the United States was spreading 'lies and falsehoods' after the State Department claimed US government vessels would be able to pass the Panama Canal without paying a fee. The fiery allegations are the latest point of tension between the two countries which have clashed over the canal since US President Donald Trump claimed the vital waterway had effectively been taken over by China and vowed 'we're taking it back.' Speaking to journalists, Mulino expressed his 'absolute rejection' of managing US-Panama ties 'based on lies and falsehoods.' The Panama Canal Authority issued a statement late on Wednesday denying the claim from the US State Department earlier in the day that Panama's government had agreed to no longer charge crossing fees for US government vessels, in a move that would save the US millions of dollars a year. Trump has accused the Central American country of charging excessive rates to use its trade passage, one of the busiest in the world. 'Why are they making an important institutional statement from the entity that governs the foreign policy of the United States, under the President of the United States, based on a falsehood?' Mulino asked on Thursday, calling the State Department's claim 'simply and plainly intolerable.' Mulino said he had asked his ambassador in Washington to take 'firm steps' to deny the Trump administration's claim.
