The president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, put diplomacy in a drawer last night and said, clearly, . He also insisted that his northern neighbor, Canada, should rather be another state of his country than a nation with full rights and sovereignty.
Obviously, in the face of this barrage, the reactions of Panama City, Copenhagen and Ottawa have been forceful and unidirectional: their assets, their resources, their soil, are not touched.
Thus, the Panamanian Foreign Minister, Javier Martínez-Acha, said this morning that the canal “is part of the fight” of Panama for its full sovereignty and “an irreversible conquest.” “I reiterate what (Panamanian) President José Raúl Mulino has already said: the sovereignty of our canal is not negotiable and is part of our history of struggle and an irreversible conquest,” said Martínez-Acha during a statement to the press. He added that “when the president-elect (Trump) takes office,” on January 20, “the relationship between the United States and Panama will be managed through the formal, usual and corresponding channels.”
On December 20, Panama commemorated the 35th anniversary of the US invasion of the country to capture dictator Manuel Antonio Noriega on drug trafficking charges, which left between 500 and 4,000 dead. The Central American country abolished its Army after that foreign incursion.
This Tuesday, Trump again accused the Central American country of imposing excessive passage fees on American ships and insisted that China controls the canal, statements that the Panamanian government has already rejected. “Tolls are not made at the whim of the presidents and the administrator” of the canal, they are set in a “public and open process” in which clients and other actors participate, declared Mulino on December 26 when answering “no” when was asked if toll costs would be reduced over Trump’s complaints.
And Martínez-Acha also repeated what President Mulino has already said before: “the only hands that control the canal are Panamanian and that will continue to be the case,” denying once again Trump’s claim that China controls the route that connects the Atlantic. and the Pacific.
The Panama Canal was built by the United States, which inaugurated it in 1914 and administered it until its total transfer to the Panamanian State on December 31, 1999, as established in the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, signed on September 7, 1977 in Washington by the Panamanian leader, Omar Torrijos (1929-1981), and the American president, Jimmy Carter (1924-2024).
There are also treaties relating to permanent neutrality and the operation of the road signed by the two countries in 1977 that are “mandatory” to comply with, and put an end to the Hay-Bunau Varilla treaty of 1903 that gave the US the rights in perpetuity to build and use the canal initiated by the French, as the former Panamanian president (1978-1982) and former trade negotiator explained to EFE. the Torrijos-Carter Treaties of 1977, Arístides Royo.
“Our channel has the mission of serving humanity and its commerce, that is one of the great values that Panamanians offer to the world, giving a guarantee to the international community of not taking part or being an active party in any conflict,” said this Tuesday the chancellor of Panama.
The United States is the main user of the Panama Canal, through which about 3% of world trade passes, followed far behind by China. The North American power is also the main commercial and political partner of the Central American country.
“We are a country open to dialogue today and always, to investments and good relations, but with the clear slogan that the Homeland comes first,” said the Foreign Minister of Panama at the conclusion of his statement.
“Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders”
For her part, the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, reacted to the Republican’s statements by reiterating that Greenland, that autonomous territory that is part of the Crown of Denmark, “belongs to the Greenlanders.”
“My starting point and the government’s starting point are very clear: that the future of Greenland is decided in Greenland,” Frederiksen told TV2. “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders,” emphasized the prime minister, who already in 2019 had described the idea launched by Trump, then in his first term, of purchasing the territory as an “absurd debate.”
Frederiksen added that if “at some point” the inhabitants of the territory make a decision of one nature or another, the Danish Government will take a position on the matter. Furthermore, the prime minister urged to maintain calm on the matter and stated that from her point of view “we are stronger if we are together.”
The island came under Danish jurisdiction when Denmark and Norway separated in 1814 and was fully integrated into the Danish state in 1953, although in 2008 Greenlanders voted in a referendum in favor of greater autonomy and complete independence is one of the issues. campaign for the legislative elections next April.
“Greenland is an incredible place and people will benefit if it becomes part of our nation,” Trump wrote on the Truth Social app, announcing the visit of his son Donald Trump Junior. The Greenlandic authorities denied that they were going to have any meeting between the politician’s son and members of the autonomous government, contrary to what had initially been speculated.
At Christmas, Trump, who will assume the presidency on January 20 for the second time, declared that control of the island is “an absolute necessity” for American national security, to which the Greenlandic Prime Minister, Múte B. Egede, He then responded that Greenland “is not for sale.”
“Never, but never, will Canada be part of the United States”
Canadian political leaders also quickly denounced on Tuesday the threats by the American president-elect to forcibly annex Canada and assured that it will never be part of the United States. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared in a message on social media: “Canada will never, ever be part of the United States.” “Workers and communities in both countries benefit from us being each other’s largest trade and security partners,” added the Canadian leader.
This Tuesday, in a press conference, Trump ruled out using military force to annex Canada, but said that he would use “economic force.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, also joined the criticism and described Trump’s statements as “threats” that threaten the bilateral relationship. “President-elect Trump’s comments show an absolute lack of understanding of what makes Canada a strong country. Our economy is strong. Our people are strong. We will never back down from threats,” the country’s diplomatic head added on social media.
For his part, the leader of the Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre, took advantage of Trump’s words to attack Trudeau, who announced on Monday that he will resign in the coming weeks, when the ruling Liberal Party elects a leader to replace him.
“Canada will never be the 51st state. Period. We are a great independent country. We are the best friends of the United States. We spent billions of dollars and hundreds of lives to help the United States retaliate for the attacks of the 9/11 by Al Qaeda,” Poilievre said.
The Conservative leader, who according to opinion polls will win the next general election, added that the “pathetic” Trudeau Government has not influenced these arguments to defend Canada.
Another opposition leader, Jagmeet Shing, leader of the social democratic New Democratic Party (NPD), was more direct. “Stop talking nonsense, Donald. No Canadian wants to go with you. We are proud to be Canadians. Proud of how we help each other and defend our nation. Your attacks will hurt jobs on both sides of the border. If you come for Canadian jobs, Americans will pay,” he said.
“Stop talking nonsense, Donald. No Canadian wants to go with you. We are proud to be Canadians”
And Andrew Coyne, one of the country’s leading political commentators, said that “this country is under attack. By our neighbors.” “The basic assumption of Canadian history, that we would always have a stable, democratic ally to the south, is gone. They are not stable, they are not likely to remain democratic and, under Trump, they are not our allies,” he said.
