US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Panama on Saturday, marking his first international trip as the country’s top diplomat amid President Donald Trump’s bid to reclaim control over the Panama Canal.
Trump has suggested that China’s growing influence in the region, particularly through its investment in Panama’s ports, poses a national security risk.
He has refused to rule out military action to take back the canal, which the US handed over to Panama in 1999.
“They’ve already offered to do many things,” Trump said on Friday, “but we think it’s appropriate that we take it back,” adding that Panama had violated agreements by allowing excessive Chinese involvement.
Panama refuses to negotiate
Rubio is set to meet with Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino, who has firmly rejected any negotiations regarding US control of the canal.
“I cannot negotiate, much less open a process of negotiations on the canal,” Mulino said Thursday, saying that the issue “is sealed.”
“The canal is Panama’s,” he said.
However, his administration has launched an audit of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings, which operates ports on both sides of the canal.
Rubio on tour of Central America
Rubio, while downplaying the question military intervention, told SiriusXM radio in an interview before the trip that the Panama Canal is a “core national interest” for the US.
The Panama Canal serves as a vital trade route, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and facilitating 40% of US container traffic.
“We cannot allow any foreign power — particularly China — to hold that kind of potential control over it that they do,” Rubio said. “That just can’t continue.”
Rubio’s visit is part of a broader tour of Central America, which will also include El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.
ss/wmr (AP, AFP)
