US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has demanded that Panama make \u201cimmediate changes\u201d to what he calls the \u201cinfluence and control\u201d of China over the Panama Canal.<\/p>\n
America\u2019s top diplomat said Panama must act or the US would take necessary measures to protect its rights under a treaty between the two countries.<\/p>\n
The warning follows President Donald Trump\u2019s vow to retake the canal and a meeting between Rubio and Jose Raul Mulino, Panama\u2019s conservative president, in Panama City on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The two men appeared to emerge from their two-hour meeting with different interpretations.<\/p>\n
Mulino told reporters he did not see a serious threat of US military force to seize the canal, saying he had proposed technical-level talks with the US to address Mr Trump\u2019s concerns about Chinese influence.<\/p>\n
However, Trump\u2019s vow to retake the canal has sparked a significant backlash in Panama. Protesters in Panama City on Friday burned effigies of Trump and Rubio.<\/p>\n
Riot police moved in on another crowd of demonstrators, firing tear gas and wrestling people away. The clashes were small-scale, but the resistance to the US president\u2019s stance is widely felt.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Mulino said the issue of the canal\u2019s ownership would not be up for discussion with Rubio.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cannot negotiate or even open a negotiation process about the canal. It\u2019s sealed, the canal belongs to Panama,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump\u2019s comments about the canal included an unfounded claim that Chinese soldiers are operating it. He also said American ships were unfairly charged more than others, despite the fact such a practice would be unlawful under treaty agreements.<\/p>\n
The waterway is in fact owned and operated by the Panamanian government, under a neutrality treaty signed with the US decades ago. However, Chinese companies have invested heavily in ports and terminals near the canal. A Hong Kong based company runs two of the five ports close to its entrances.<\/p>\n
But President Trump\u2019s muscular approach \u2013 even refusing to rule out military action to take the canal \u2013 has aroused a strongly patriotic reaction in the small strategic nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous,\u201d says Panama City resident Mari, who asked not to have her surname published.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a treaty that he has to respect, and there\u2019s nothing in the treaty that says that we cannot have ports run by the Chinese,\u201d she told the BBC, pointing out that there is Chinese investment in American ports and cities.<\/p>\n
Surrounded by tourists and stalls hawking Panama hats and souvenirs, Mari explained that many residents have strong memories of US control of the canal and don\u2019t want to go back.<\/p>\n
The US and Panama signed a treaty in 1979, starting a handover process that saw Panama take full control of the canal in 1999.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could not cross into the canal zone without being arrested if we didn\u2019t follow all the American rules. The minute you stepped across that border, you were in the United States,\u201d Mari said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had no rights within our own country, and we will not put up with that again\u2026 We are very insulted by [Trump\u2019s] words.\u201d<\/p>\n
For some, Trump\u2019s refusal to rule out the use of military force has also triggered suspicion and fear. It evokes memories of the 1989 US invasion of Panama to depose de facto ruler General Manuel Noriega, a conflict that lasted several weeks and rapidly overwhelmed Panamanian forces.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was the political leader of the opposition when Noriega said he was going to kill all the leaders of the opposition if the US were to invade,\u201d recalled former Panama congressman Edwin Cabrera, speaking to the BBC by the locks of the canal\u2019s Pacific entrance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard the bombs and started seeing people dying\u2026 The only thing President Trump and Rubio have left to say is that they will invade us,\u201d he told the BBC. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t like to live that again in the 21st Century, relive the imperial experience. Panama is in the middle of war between two powers, the USA and China, while we are looking at the sky.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marco Rubio is the first Hispanic Secretary of State and is well known for his hawkish positions on some leaders in the region and on China. While Panama closely co-operates with the US on many issues, Mr Rubio\u2019s visit is meant to signal the administration\u2019s intolerance of countries soaking up Chinese investment in what the US sees as its own backyard.<\/p>\n
In Panama, he claims China could ultimately use its interests at the ports to block US merchant or war ships in the event of a conflict or trade war.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf China wanted to obstruct traffic in the Panama Canal, they could. That\u2019s a fact\u2026 That\u2019s what President Trump is raising and we\u2019re going to address that topic\u2026 That dynamic cannot continue,\u201d Mr Rubio said on The Megyn Kelly Show last week.<\/p>\n
Despite the overwhelming support among ordinary Panamanians for their country\u2019s ownership of the canal, some remain sceptical of their own leadership, arguing profits from the waterway don\u2019t filter through to enough ordinary Panamanians.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat you see here \u2013 that the United States and Donald Trump want to take back the canal \u2013 that\u2019s what we call cause and effect,\u201d says Andre Howell, a hotel worker in the historic centre of Panama City.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not administrating the Panama Canal the right way\u2026 No Panamanians have [the] benefits,\u201d he said.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has demanded that Panama make \u201cimmediate changes\u201d to what he calls the \u201cinfluence and control\u201d of China over the Panama Canal. America\u2019s top diplomat said Panama must act or the US would take necessary measures to protect its rights under a treaty between the two countries. The warning follows […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109375\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}