Tom Bateman
Correspondent of the State Department in Panama
Reuters
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on the right, was greeted by Panamanian Minister Javier Martinez-Acha when he arrived in Panama City
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanded that Panama bring “immediate changes” to what he calls “China’s influence and control” on the Panama Canal.
The best American diplomat said Panama should act or that the United States would take the necessary measures to protect its rights under a treaty between the two countries.
The warning follows President Donald Trump’s wish to take over the canal and a meeting between Rubio and Jose Raul Mulino, conservative president of Panama, in Panama City on Sunday.
The two men seemed to emerge from their two -hour meeting with different interpretations.
Mulino told journalists that he had not seen a serious threat from the American military force to grasp the canal, saying that he had proposed technical talks with the United States to respond to Mr. Trump concerns about the ‘Chinese influence.
However, Trump’s wish to take over the channel sparked an important reaction to Panama. Friday, demonstrators burned the effigies of Trump and Rubio.
Anti-riot police moved on another crowd of demonstrators, pulling tear gas and fighting people. The clashes were on a small scale, but the resistance to the position of the American president is largely felt.
Mulino said on Thursday that the question of the canal property would not be under discussion with Rubio.
“I cannot negotiate or even open a negotiation process on the canal. It is sealed, the canal belongs to Panama,” he said.
Mr. Trump’s comments on the channel included an unfounded affirmation that Chinese soldiers exploit it. He also said that American ships were unjustly billed more than the others, despite the fact that such a practice would be illegal under treaty agreements.
The navigable track is in fact held and operated by the Panamanian government, under a neutrality treaty signed with the United States decades ago. However, Chinese companies have invested massively in ports and terminals near the canal. A company based in Hong Kong manages two of the five ports near its entrances.
But the muscular approach of President Trump – even refusing to exclude military action to take the channel – aroused a strongly patriotic reaction in the small strategic nation.
“It’s ridiculous,” said husband, a resident of Panama City, who asked not to have her last name published.
“There is a treaty that he must respect, and there is nothing in the treaty which says that we cannot have ports managed by the Chinese,” she told the BBC, stressing that ‘There are Chinese investments in American ports and cities.
EPA
The demonstrators went out in Panama City on Friday to protest against Rubio’s visit
Surrounded by tourists and stands stucking hats and memories of Panama, husband explained that many residents have strong memories of the American channel control and do not want to go back.
The United States and Panama signed a treaty in 1979, starting a transfer process that saw Panama take total control of the canal in 1999.
“We could not enter the canal area without being stopped if we had not followed all the American rules. At the minute you crossed this border, you were in the United States,” said Mari.
“We had no right in our own country, and we will no longer criticize that … We are very insulted by the words (from Trump).”
For some, Trump’s refusal to exclude the use of military force has also triggered suspicion and fear. He evokes memories of the American invasion of Panama in 1989 to deposit de facto sovereign, General Manuel Noriega, a conflict that lasted several weeks and quickly overwhelmed the Panamanian forces.
“I was the political leader of the opposition when Noriega said he was going to kill all the opposition leaders if the United States had to invade,” recalls the former member of the Panama Congress, Edwin Cabrera, Speaking to the BBC by the entrance to the Pacific Pacific entrance to the canal of the Pacific channel of the Pacific channel of the channel of the channel of the Pacific channel.
“I heard the bombs and I started to see people die … The only thing that President Trump and Rubio lets say is that they will invade us,” he said at the BBC. “I would not want to live again in the 21st century, relive the imperial experience. Panama is in the middle of the war between two powers, the United States and China, while we look at heaven.”
The worker of the Andre Howell hotel says that the Panamanians do not see enough the advantages of the Panama Canal
Marco Rubio is the first Hispanic Secretary of State and is well known for his bellicic positions on certain leaders of the region and China. While Panama cooperates closely with the United States on many questions, Mr. Rubio’s visit is intended to report intolerance to countries by the administration which absorbs Chinese investments in what the United States considers its own backyard.
In Panama, he said that China could finally use its interests in ports to block American merchant or war ships in the event of a conflict or trade war.
“If China wanted to hinder traffic in the Panama Canal, they could. This is a fact … This is what President Trump raises and we will approach this subject … This dynamic cannot continue “Said Mr. Rubio Week.
Despite the overwhelming support among ordinary Panamanians for the ownership of their channel country, some remain skeptical about their own leadership, arguing that the benefits of the navigable track do not filter enough ordinary Panamanians.
“What you see here – that the United States and Donald Trump want to take over the channel – this is what we call the cause and the effect,” explains Andre Howell, a hotel worker in the historic center of Panama City.
“They do not administer the Panama Canal in the right direction … No Panamanian has (the) advantages,” he said.
