Rubio is holding talks in Panama as Trump demands canal control and pressures U.S. neighbors
The Hindu
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets Panama's President amid tensions over the Panama Canal ownership.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting Panama’s President on Sunday (February 2, 2025) on the opening stop of his first foreign trip as America's top diplomat as President Donald Trump increases the pressure on Washington's neighbours and allies, including a demand for the Panama Canal to be returned to the United States.
A day after Mr. Trump announced he was imposing major tariffs on Canada and Mexico, prompting retaliation from those countries, Mr. Rubio was set for perhaps a less confrontational and more diplomatic approach. After talks with President José Raúl Mulino, Mr. Rubio planned to tour an energy facility and then the canal, the object of Mr. Trump’s intense interest.
Mr. Mulino has said there will be no negotiation with the U.S. over ownership of the canal, and some Panamanians have staged protests over Mr. Trump's plans. Mr. Mulino said he hoped Mr. Rubio’s visit would focus on shared interests such as migration and combating drug trafficking.
Mr. Rubio will be pressing Mr. Trump’s top focus — curbing illegal immigration — but has also said he will be bringing the message that the U.S. wants to reclaim control over the Panama Canal despite intense resistance from regional leaders to combat China's growing influence in the hemisphere.
In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece on Friday, Mr. Rubio said mass migration, drugs and hostile policies pursued by Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela have wreaked havoc, and port facilities at either end of the canal are run by a China-based company, leaving the waterway vulnerable to pressure from the Beijing government.
“We’re going to address that topic,” Mr. Rubio said a day earlier. “The President’s been pretty clear he wants to administer the canal again. Obviously, the Panamanians are not big fans of that idea. That message has been brought very clear.”
The American-built canal was turned over to the Panamanians in 1999 and they object strongly to Trump’s demand to hand it back.
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