The president reiterated his promise to “recover” the on Sunday, warning of a “powerful” action of in a growing diplomatic dispute with the Central American country about the presence of the vital waterway.
“China is managing the Panama Canal that was not given to China, which was given to Panama foolishly, but they have violated the deal, and we will recover it, or something very powerful will happen,” Trump told the journalists.
Hours earlier, the diplomatic agitation caused by Trump’s repeated and publicly declared desire that the US resumes control of the channel seemed to have diminished after the Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on his first trip abroad as the main US diplomat, if he had Found with the president of Panama, Raúl Mulino.
Although Mulino told Rubio that Panama’s sovereignty about the channel was not under discussion, he also said he had addressed Washington DC’s concerns about Beijing’s supposed influence around the waterway.
Panama will not renew a 2017 understanding memorandum to join China’s overseas development initiative, known as Belt and Road initiative, Mulino said, also suggesting that the deal with Beijing could end early.
Mulino told journalists that Panama will seek to work with the US in new investments, including infrastructure projects. “I think this visit opens the door to build new relationships (…) and try to increase US investments as possible in Panama,” he said.
During the meeting, Rubio told Panama Foreign Minister and Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha, that concerns about Panama’s “control” by China can mean that the US has to “take the necessary measures To protect your rights, ”according to a longtime treaty on the neutrality and operation of the channel.
The channel was returned to Panama as a 1977 treaty, which allows the US to intervene militarily if the navigable road operations are disturbed by an internal conflict or a foreign power. Currently, the channel is crossed by more load than during the years of American control.
Mulino said on Sunday that he does not believe there is a real risk that the US use military force to resume the channel.
Panama will not invest a single dollar in the channel
Mulino also said that the Panamanian authorities are auditing a China -linked company that operates two terminals around the channel.
“We have to wait until this audit is over so that we can reach our legal conclusions and act in accordance,” said Mulino.
The company in question is Panama Ports Company, which is part of a branch of the Hong Kong -based CK Hutchison Holdings. Hutchinson Ports is one of the largest port operators in the world, overseeing 53 ports in 24 countries, including other US allies, such as the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.
As CNN previously reported, Hutchinson does not control access to the Panama channel. The workers of their two ports only carry and discharge containers on ships and fuel us. Three other ports near the channel are operated by competing companies that provide similar services.
Mulino also said that the Panamanian authorities talked to Rubio about the possibility of expanding a migrant repatriation flight program to remove foreigners who have no legal basis to be in Panama, insisting that the US would have to bear the costs.
Required to clarify whether migrants would come to Panama and would later be transferred to their respective countries, Mulio said: “Yes. Exactly … we can do this, without any problem, with the total costs of the US. Panama will not invest a single dollar in this. ”
The program, signed in July, aims to reduce irregular migration through Darien Gap, a mountainous region of tropical forest that connects the southern and central Americas. The 106 -kilometer walk through Darien brings migrants from Colombia to Panama and is a crucial passage for those who expect to reach the United States and Canada.
Mulino said on Sunday that repatriates could include migrants from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and other countries.
