EconomyLens.com
No Result
View All Result
Friday, June 13, 2025
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Business
  • Markets
  • Tech
  • Editorials
EconomyLens.com
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Business
  • Markets
  • Tech
  • Editorials
No Result
View All Result
EconomyLens.com
No Result
View All Result
Home Economy

Rubio warns Panama of consequences over canal

Thomas Barnes by Thomas Barnes
February 2, 2025
in Economy
Reading Time: 8 mins read
A A
0
114
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino (L) greets US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on arrival at the presidential palace in Panama City on February 2, 2025. ©AFP

Panama City (AFP) – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday threatened action against Panama without immediate changes to reduce Chinese influence on the canal, but the country’s leader insisted he was not afraid of a US invasion and offered talks. Rubio, paying his first visit overseas as the top US diplomat, told Panama that President Donald Trump had determined that the country had violated terms of the treaty that handed back the crucial waterway in 1999. He pointed to the “influence and control” of China over the canal, the vital link between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through which some 40 percent of US container traffic passes.

Related

As NATO ups defence spending, can Europe produce the weapons?

Betraying the revolution: Cuban students reject dollarization

As NATO ups defence spending, can Europe produce the weapons?

Trump moves to block California electric cars program

Niger-Benin border standoff deepens as trade collapse bites

Meeting President Jose Raul Mulino, Rubio “made clear that this status quo is unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights under the treaty,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said. Mulino painted a less dire portrait of the meeting. He welcomed Rubio at his official residence in the tropical capital’s old quarter, with an honor guard outside the whitewashed walls. “I don’t feel that there is any real threat at this time against the treaty, its validity, or much less of the use of military force to seize the canal,” Mulino told reporters afterward, referring to the treaty that handed over the canal at the end of 1999. “Sovereignty over the canal is not in question,” Mulino said. He proposed technical-level talks with the United States to clear up concerns.

Rubio did not spell out what measures the United States may take. Trump in recent days has imposed hefty tariffs on the three biggest trading partners of the United States — Canada, China, and Mexico. Rubio and Trump say that China has gained so much power around surrounding infrastructure that it could shut it down in a potential conflict, with catastrophic consequences for the United States.

Protests against Rubio have also arisen, with small but intense demonstrations breaking out in Panama ahead of his visit, resulting in police firing tear gas. Protesters burned an effigy of Rubio wearing a red, white, and blue suit and held up pictures of him and Trump before a Nazi flag. “Rubio, get out of Panama!” around 200 demonstrators chanted as the former senator met Mulino. Police prevented the crowd from approaching the Old City. “To the imperial messenger,” union leader Saul Mendez said of Rubio, “we reiterate that there is absolutely nothing here for Trump. Panama is a free and sovereign nation.”

In response to pressure, Mulino ordered an audit of a Hong Kong-based company that controls ports on both sides of the canal. However, speaking to reporters on Friday, Trump said that concession was not enough on the canal and that “it’s appropriate that we take it back.” The Panama Canal — which Trump has dubbed as a modern “wonder of the world” — was built by the United States at the cost of thousands of lives of laborers, mostly people of African descent from Barbados, Jamaica, and elsewhere in the Caribbean.

The United States maintained control of the canal when it opened in 1914 but began to negotiate following deadly riots in 1964 by Panamanians angered over foreign control. Jimmy Carter sealed the agreement that gave the canal to Panama at the end of 1999, with the late president seeing a moral imperative for the United States to respect a smaller but still sovereign country. Trump takes a vastly different view and has returned to the “big stick” approach of the early 20th century, in which the United States threatened force to have its way, especially in Latin America.

In his first week in office, Trump prepared massive tariffs on Colombia to force the US ally to take back deported citizens on military planes, after the country’s leftist president complained that they were not being treated in a dignified way. Rubio, the first Hispanic secretary of state and a devout Catholic, started his Sunday in Panama City attending Mass at a church built four centuries ago in the Old City. He will travel to four more Latin American countries — El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic — where he is expected to press for cooperation on Trump’s key priority of deporting migrants from the United States.

© 2024 AFP

Tags: Panama CanalpoliticsUS-China relations
Share46Tweet29Share8Pin10Send
Previous Post

Trump says tariff ‘pain’ will be ‘worth the price’

Next Post

Mexican farmers, auto-parts makers urge dialogue with US

Thomas Barnes

Thomas Barnes

Related Posts

Economy

March quake to drive 2.5% drop in Myanmar GDP, says World Bank

June 12, 2025
Economy

UK economy shrinks in April as US tariffs kick in

June 12, 2025
Economy

Niger-Benin border standoff deepens as trade collapse bites

June 12, 2025
Economy

Rice prices Japan’s hot political issue, on and off the farm

June 12, 2025
Economy

US inflation edges up but Trump tariff hit limited for now

June 11, 2025
Economy

Latest GM investments in US in line with slowing EV demand: exec

June 11, 2025
Next Post

Mexican farmers, auto-parts makers urge dialogue with US

Rubio lays down ultimatum to Panama over canal

Stocks drop, dollar rallies as Year of the Snake starts with bite

Trump announces talks with Canada, Mexico over sweeping tariffs

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
guest
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest

New York ruling deals Trump business a major blow

September 30, 2024

Elon Musk’s X fights Australian watchdog over church stabbing posts

April 21, 2024

Women journalists bear the brunt of cyberbullying

April 22, 2024

France probes TotalEnergies over 2021 Mozambique attack

May 6, 2024

Ghanaian finance ministry warns against fallout from anti-LGBTQ law

74

New York ruling deals Trump business a major blow

71

Shady bleaching jabs fuel health fears, scams in W. Africa

71

Stock markets waver, oil prices edge up

65

Spain economy minister urges fair, balanced EU-US tariff deal

June 13, 2025

Startups show off ocean-preserving tech at Paris trade fair

June 13, 2025

War, trade and Air India crash cast cloud over Paris Air Show

June 13, 2025

Airlines halt many Middle East flights after Israel hits Iran

June 13, 2025
EconomyLens Logo

We bring the world economy to you. Get the latest news and insights on the global economy, from trade and finance to technology and innovation.

Pages

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us

Categories

  • Business
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Tech
  • Editorials

Network

  • Coolinarco.com
  • CasualSelf.com
  • Fit.CasualSelf.com
  • Sport.CasualSelf.com
  • SportBeep.com
  • MachinaSphere.com
  • MagnifyPost.com
  • TodayAiNews.com
  • VideosArena.com
© 2025 EconomyLens.com - Top economic news from around the world.
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Business
  • Markets
  • Tech
  • Editorials

© 2024 EconomyLens.com - Top economic news from around the world.