 "US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Reuters File")
Marco Rubio will visit Panama on Saturday for his first overseas trip since assuming office as the US Secretary of State. The trip comes amid US President Donald Trump’s threat to seize the Panama Canal.
Rubio’s visit coincides with the implementation of Trump’s new tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China.
He will also travel to four other small Latin American countries for an agenda focused on migration.
This is an unusual first trip for the top US diplomat, whose predecessors typically started their roles with cooperative messages to major allies.
Trump has not ruled out using military force to take back the Panama Canal, which the US handed over in 1999, arguing that China has gained too much influence through nearby port investments.
In his inaugural address, Trump said the US would be “taking it back.”
“They’ve already offered to do many things,” Trump said of Panama, “but we think it’s appropriate that we take it back.”
He alleged that Panama was removing Chinese-language signs to cover up how “they’ve totally violated the agreement” on the canal.
“Marco Rubio is going over to talk to the gentleman in charge,” Trump told reporters.
Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, generally considered an ally of the United States, has ruled out opening negotiations after complaining to the United Nations about Trump’s threat.
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More Shorts“I cannot negotiate, much less open a process of negotiations on the canal,” Mulino said on Thursday.
“The issue is sealed. The canal is Panama’s,” Mulino added.
However, Mulino’s government has ordered an audit of CK Hutchison Holdings, the Hong Kong company that operates ports on both sides of the canal.
What does ’taking it back’ mean? -
It remains to be seen if or how Rubio will carry out the threat. Some experts believe that Trump is simply applying pressure and could declare a win by ramping up US investment in the canal — an outcome that most Panamanians would welcome.
Rubio has downplayed the military option but has also not contradicted his boss.
“I think the president’s been pretty clear he wants to administer the canal again. Obviously, the Panamanians are not big fans of that idea,” Rubio told SiriusXM radio in an interview before the trip.
He acknowledged that Panama’s government “generally is pro-American” but said that the Panama Canal is a “core national interest for us.”
“We cannot allow any foreign power — particularly China — to hold that kind of potential control over it that they do. That just can’t continue,” Rubio said.
The canal remains a crucial link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, with 40 percent of US container traffic passing through it.
Trump administration officials said they were blaming not Mulino but former Panamanian president Juan Carlos Varela, who in 2017 — during Trump’s first term as president — moved to sever ties with Taiwan in favour of China.
“It wasn’t just a diplomatic recognition. He literally opened the floodgates and gave strategic assets throughout the Canal Zone to China,” said Mauricio Claver-Carone, the US special envoy for Latin America.
He charged that Panama unfairly raised costs for US ships while also seeking assistance from the US for canal upkeep. Panama attributes rising costs to the effects of a drought, exacerbated by climate change.
Trump has quickly made clear he will apply swift pressure to bend other countries to his will, especially on his signature issue of deporting undocumented immigrants.
On Sunday, he threatened major tariffs against Colombia to force its president to back down after he insisted that repatriated migrants be treated in a more dignified way.
With inputs from AFP