The United States government said Wednesday that Panama agreed not to charge his ships for transit through the Panama Canalthus saving “millions of dollars a year”, an announcement that arrives after the visit of the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, to the Central American country amid the pressures of President Donald Trump for “recovering” the road.
“The Panama Government has agreed not to charge more rates to the United States government ships that transit the Panama Canalwhich allows you to save millions of dollars a year, “the US State Department reported in a social network X. Shortly before, the Pentagon had reported in a statement that the US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, remarked During a call with the Minister Public Security of Panama, Frank Abrego, the US interest in “ensuring access without restrictions” to the channel. President Trump, which includes ensuring unrestricted access to the Panama Canal and keeping it free of foreign interference, “said the statement.
The call occurred on Tuesday and in it both Hegseth and Abrego reaffirmed the commitment of both countries “with the defense of the channel and agreed to expand cooperation between the United States Armed Forces and the Panama Security Forces.” His conversation occurred amid the tension between the two nations after the claim of the US president, Donald Trump, to “recover” the control of the Panama Canal for the alleged Chinese influence on the interoceanic route. Given this, the government of Panama agreed not to renew the cooperation agreement with China on the new Silk route, among other measures.
The Panama Canal Authority, independent of the Panamanian Government, had already advanced last Sunday to Marco Rubio that they would work with the US Navy to “optimize the priority in the transit of their ships” through the interoceanic route, although they had not given more details. “The Panama Canal Authority told the Secretary Rubio his willingness to work with the Navy of that country, to optimize the priority in the transit of his ships through the Panama Canal,” the entity then informed in a statement in a statement , shortly after the visit of the head of American diplomacy to the road, where he met with the administrator, Ricaurte Vásquez.
Trump bases his threats on the supposed presence of China on the road that joins the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the “unfair” treatment towards the ships of the United States, despite the evidence of the official Panamanian information, which shows that the ships of the North American country pay the same rates as others, by virtue of the Neutrality Treaty.
According to data provided to the EFE agency by the Panama Canal, since 1998 at the end of fiscal year 2024 (26 years), of a total of 373,039 ships that traveled the channel, 994 (0.3%) correspond to transits of ships War and submarines of the United States Navy.
