Panama Canal Negotiations in Focus as Rubio Visits Central America

‘It is not in thee national interest of the United States to have a canal we paid for and we built used as a leverage and a weapon against us,’ Rubio said.


U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio kicked off his trip to Latin America, arriving in Panama on Feb. 1, with a focus on the Panama Canal and China’s intrusion into the zone.

“Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic from February 1–6 to advance President [Donald] Trump’s America First foreign policy,” the U.S. Department of State said in a Jan. 31 statement.

Rubio is expected to discuss the United States’ interest in the critical waterway connecting the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The president has suggested retaking control over the canal, citing the threat of Chinese hegemony in the region.

Rubio addressed the issue of Chinese involvement in the Panama Canal during a Jan. 30 interview with Megyn Kelly of The Megyn Kelly Show.
“One of the main investments they have is in these two port facilities on both—on the entry—on both sides of the canal. And all kinds of other infrastructure, cranes and the like,” Rubio said.
While the company engaged in these activities is from Hong Kong, it still comes under the control of the Chinese regime, he said.

“And if the government in China in a conflict tells them to shut down the Panama Canal, they will have to. And in fact, I have zero doubt that they have contingency planning to do so. That is a direct threat. So it’s a technicality, but in reality if China wanted to obstruct traffic in the Panama Canal, they could. That’s a fact,” Rubio said.
Such an arrangement violates the Panama Canal Treaty agreement with the United States.
“That dynamic cannot continue—not simply because we built it at great cost in lives and treasure, but because it is contrary to our national interest. It is not in the national interest of the United States to have a canal we paid for and we built used as a leverage and a weapon against us. That can’t happen,” Rubio said.

However, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino recently said he will not engage in any negotiations over ownership of the canal.
“It’s impossible; I can’t negotiate,” he said. “That is done. The canal belongs to Panama.”
The canal opened in 1914 after a 10-year construction effort by the United States. The 51-mile waterway connecting the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean makes trade much more efficient.
“Around 72 percent of transiting ships are either going to or coming from U.S. ports,” according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. “By using the Panama Canal, ships can save considerable time and fuel costs. The shorter transit time reduces the time in transit and enables faster delivery of goods.”

As such, any disruption in shipping via the canal can have a significant negative effect on the United States. The canal was granted to Panama by President Jimmy Carter in a deal signed in 1977.
The deal consists of two treaties—the Neutrality Treaty and the Panama Canal Treaty. The Neutrality Treaty states that the United States may use its military might to protect the canal from any threat to its neutrality.

Trump argues that the neutrality agreement has been broken as Chinese companies have built up a dominating presence in the region. He criticized the “exorbitant prices and rates of passage” charged for U.S. Navy ships and commercial vessels to pass through.

During a news conference in early January, Trump said he does not rule out using economic or military coercion to bring the waterway under U.S. control.

“It might be that you'll have to do something. Look, the Panama Canal is vital to our country. It’s being operated by China. We gave the Panama Canal to Panama. We didn’t give it to China, and they’ve abused it. They’ve abused that gift,” he said.

Rubio’s Mission
In addition to the Panama Canal issue, Rubio’s Central America trip also aims to “promote regional cooperation on our core, shared interests: stopping illegal and large-scale migration, fighting the scourge of transnational criminal organizations and drug traffickers, countering China, and deepening economic partnerships to enhance prosperity in our hemisphere,” the State Department said.
In El Salvador, Rubio will seek to ensure the country’s cooperation with the United States’ deportation efforts. On Jan. 31, special envoy to Latin America Mauricio Claver-Carone said the United States hopes to secure a “safe third country” deal with El Salvador.
Under the deal, illegal immigrants deported from the United States who aren’t taken back by their home nations shall be granted asylum in El Salvador.

“During the first Trump administration, El Salvador was one of three countries that had a ‘safe third’ agreement with the United States,” Claver-Carone said.

The effort is part of the Trump administration’s broader policy of cracking down on illegal immigrants into the United States.

On Jan. 20, Trump signed an executive order aimed at border security. Under the order, the United States seeks to deter and prevent the entry of illegal aliens into the country, pursue criminal charges “against illegal aliens who violate the immigration laws,” and remove “promptly all aliens who enter or remain in violation of federal law,” among other measures.

Trump has signed a memorandum seeking to prepare the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba to detain illegal immigrants.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem recently said that the Trump administration “has stopped all grant funding that’s being abused by NGOs that’s being used to facilitate illegal immigration” into the United States.

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Another on the list of Jimmy Carter FU’s.

Agree. We should not have relinquished our interest in the Canal. If there was a treaty that made a turnover to Panama a necessity, we should have renegotiated it to protect the U.S.

the VERY next Day...

Panama Says It Will Not Renew ‘Belt and Road’ Agreement With China After Rubio Visit
The announcement followed President Jose Mulino’s meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Panama City on Sunday.

Panama President José Raúl Mulino said on Sunday that his country will not renew its memorandum of understanding with China to be a part of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Speaking to reporters, Mulino said the agreement is due for renewal in two years and his government is looking into the possibility of terminating it earlier, according to local media reports.

“We are going to study the possibility of whether it can be finished earlier or not. I think it is due for renewal in one or two years,” he said in Spanish.

Mulino made the announcement after a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Panama City earlier in the day, during which Rubio called on Panama to urgently address the CCP’s influence over the region. The Trump administration had accused the country of failing to ensure the U.S.-built Panama Canal’s neutrality, which was a requirement set forth by the “Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama Canal” of 1977. The treaty paved the way for the United States to hand control of the canal to Panama in 1999.

“I do not feel that there is any real threat at this time against the [neutrality] treaty, its validity,” the Panamanian leader said.

Panama signed the agreement to join China’s global infrastructure project in 2017 under the former administration of President Juan Carlos Varela after it severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
U.S. officials have warned that the BRI project is “debt-trap diplomacy” by the CCP. Around the world, the CCP has offered loans through BRI agreements to developing nations for infrastructure projects that have ultimately led to unsustainable debt levels for participating nations, leaving their strategic infrastructure vulnerable to control by China.

During their talks on Feb. 2, Rubio told Mulino that U.S. President Donald Trump is concerned about the CCP’s “current position of influence and control” over the Panama Canal area, citing the neutrality treaty.

Rubio made clear that the status quo is “unacceptable” and said the United States will “take measures necessary to protect its rights” under the treaty, according to State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce.

In response, Mulino affirmed his country’s sovereignty over the Panama Canal and said the waterway will continue to function as “an autonomous entity,” according to a readout in Spanish issued by his office.

“I understand that this is a concern of President Donald Trump, given the time when these treaties were signed and the current situation” of Hong Kong-based Hutchison Ports operating the ports at both ends of the canal, Mulino said.

Panama also pledged to form a technical team to “clarify any doubts” that U.S. officials may have about the operations of the waterway, his office stated.

Mulino added that Panama would expand its July 2024 memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to assist U.S. authorities on illegal immigration issues.
Several U.S. officials took to social media to celebrate Mulino’s decision to end the BRI agreement, with National Security Adviser Mike Waltz describing it as a “step in the right direction.”

Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) praised Rubio for his efforts in countering the CCP’s influence in Panama.

“China has seen much too much influence here in the Western Hemisphere. Now on to Africa and other spots around the world,” Huizenga stated on X.
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs stated on X that “Panama appears ready to turn off the spigot” after Rubio’s single visit to the country.
The talks marked Rubio’s first overseas trip since assuming the post less than two weeks ago. The trip, which includes stops in El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic, also marks the first time in a century that a U.S. secretary of state has made Latin America the first official destination, reflecting a U.S. desire to counter rising Chinese diplomatic encroachment in the region.

The United States spent a decade building the Panama Canal, which connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. In 1999, under the 1977 treaty, Panama took control of the 51-mile-long waterway.

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I had the opportunity to go to Panama in 1991 as part of a National Guard road-building project, "Operation Fuertes Caminos". There were still signs of the US invasion in urban areas of Panama City, typical "Yankee Go Home" and the like, but our project area was out in the country. Those "country folk" were like many others I've met over the years. They are generally agreeable as long as you don't mess with them or their families or their way of life (freedoms, etc.). Sound familiar? A trivial fact - US coinage is interchangeable with Panamanian currency as far as size and weight.

I don’t think I would accept a correction. I wouldn’t trust future politicians to follow up and be willing to do anything about a breach of the agreement. I think I would just take it back sometime after the midterms