Marco Rubio warns Panama that USA “will take the necessary measures” if he does not immediately reduce China’s alleged influence on the channel

For his part, Mulino reiterated that the sovereignty of the channel is not under discussion.

“The sovereignty of Panama is not in question, that is very important and I explained in detail (A Rubio),” said the Panamanian leader at a press conference after the meeting. He added: “The channel is operated by our country and so it will continue.”

The US Department of State did not clarify what measures would be taking against Panama. Mulino told the media that he does not see a threat of any military action or that the treaty is at risk.

While the channel is from Panama, Rubio and Trump argue that China has gained so much power around the surrounding infrastructure that could close it in a possible conflict, with catastrophic consequences for the US.

The meeting also discussed issues of migration and organized crime.

Panama offered to receive migrants from other nations from American soil, as long as the expenses of non -Panamanian repatriations are covered by the US government.

“We are going to explore the possibility of expanding the memorandum of understanding that we signed on July 1 with Homeland Security to be able to articulate the issue of repatriated from Darién more,” said the president.

The Mulino government also announced that it will not renew the Panama and China agreement on the Silk route.

Under the eaves of the slogan America First, the Cuban descendant and head of American diplomacy will travel the region with scales also in El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, in addition to the Dominican Republic.

His agenda will be focused mainly on two of the fundamental concerns of this second mandate of the Republican: the control of irregular migration and the fight against organized crime.

But with Panama the interests of the United States go further.

Before assuming in the White House on January 20, Trump had already been explicit with the intention of having control over the channel, opening a dispute over the sovereignty of the interoceanic route that was returned to the Central American country in 1999.

“They are scamming us on the Panama Canal,” the Republican told days after 25 years have been completed since the US renounced the control of the road, referring to the rates that are charged to the US ships.

If that does not change, Trump threatened, “we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the US in its entirety, quickly and without asking questions.”

And Trump seem to have not moved an apex of that position. In his first speech after taking office, he reiterated his aspirations and added that “wonderful soldiers of China” are “operating loving, but illegally, the Panama Canal.”

And although inaccurate, their statements pointed to Chinese companies that have a significant presence in the Panama Canal, both for the volume of load that travels on the road, which makes it the second largest user after the US, as for its significant investments in ports and terminals adjacent to the channel such as those of Balboa and Cristóbal.

Hours before getting on the plane that transferred him to the city of Panama, Rubio reiterated that “President Trump is quite clear that he wants to administer the channel again.”

Mulino, on the other hand, has stressed that the sovereignty of the Panama Canal is and will continue to be from the Panamanians.

“I can’t negotiate and much less open a negotiation on the channel,” Mulino said Thursday. “It is sealed. The channel belongs to Panama,” he said.

According to the New York Times, Rubio was also expected to meet with the Panama Canal Administrator.

The dispute opened by Trump calls into question the validity of the Torrijos-Carter Treaty, signed in 1977 and ended the American control of the strategic channel.

The US built the Panama Canal at the beginning of the last century and until 1999 controlled its operation.

This happened after Panama became independent from Colombia, with the support of the USA, for – among other things – I will not agree with the rejection of the Colombian Congress to grant the construction of the channel, for which the Americans They had offered US $ 40 million.

Panama declared its independence on November 3, 1903 and then signed the Hay-Bunau Treaty Rod with the US.

In that agreement, the US committed to preserve the independence of Panama, while that country granted the concession to the perpetuity of the channel, in addition to the domino of which the channel area was called. And so it was agreed.

But tensions between the two countries would soon appear. In practice, Panama was divided: Americans and their families lived in a separate area, governed by their own laws, while working on the work, opened in 1914.

This area was inaccessible to Panamanians without a special permission, which fed the resentment of the local population towards the privileges of the “zoneítas”.

Over time, this discomfort resulted in protests for the recovery of channel control.

The situation broke out on January 9, 1964 when Panamanian students tried to raise their flag in a school in the area, but were arrested by the US police, which resulted in the humiliation of the flag and a violent repression.

This incident, known as the “Mártir Days”, was the catalyst so that, more than three decades later, the Panama Canal was finally transferred to Panama.

After the long negotiations, on September 7, 1977, with the signing of US President Jimmy Carter Yy the Panamanian leader, General Omar Torrijos, both parties signed the agreement.

There it was established that the sovereignty of the Canal Zone would be under the legislation of Panama and it was determined that the transfer of the control of the channel to the Central American country would occur on December 31, 1999.

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