Panama's Conservative President Jose Raul Mulino said Tuesday that he will not respond to President-elect Donald Trump's statements regarding control of the Panama Canal until after Trump takes office on January 20.
Mr. Mulino argued that: remarks given to a local newspaper La Estrella de Panama Immediately after President-elect Trump refused He told reporters that he ruled out the use of military or economic force by the United States to regain control of the Panama Canal.
According to the report, Mulino reminded Trump that the Panama Canal has “facilitated the U.S. economy” and that U.S. imports and exports are “inextricably tied to the operation of the canal.”
In December, President Trump launched an ongoing debate over the Panama Canal, an interoceanic waterway built by the United States in 1914. Control of the canal was handed over to Panama in 1999 under the terms of an agreement signed by both countries during the Panamanian regime. In 1977, the late US President Jimmy Carter.
President Trump accused Panama of charging “exorbitant” and “rip-off” transit fees to U.S. ships and said Chinese soldiers were “lovingly but illegally” running the Panama Canal. insisted.
mulino fired Trump called the accusations “nonsense” at his final weekly news conference in 2024, denying that U.S. ships were being “ripped off” on canal transit fees. He also denied the presence of Chinese troops along trade routes.
“There is no Chinese interference or participation in anything related to the Panama Canal. There are no soldiers from that country in the canal,” Mulino said at the time. “There are no Chinese in the canal, it's as simple as that. Not China or any other power.”
“People from all over the world are free to visit the canal. If we find Chinese soldiers in the canal, I will personally endorse President-elect Donald Trump's statement on that matter,” he added.
Just days before the ongoing debate on the Panama Canal began, Mr. Mulino explained He cited the immigration issue as a topic where he could have a “fruitful conversation” with President-elect Trump. The Panamanian president also expected the Trump administration to maintain the U.S.-funded deportation flight agreement. signed US President Joe Biden will leave office in July.
Mulino is elected He became president in May 2024 and took office in July. Panama's president has set a precedent for U.S.-bound illegal immigrants passing through his country by “closing” the Darien Gap, a dangerous jungle trail that shares Panama and Colombia and the only remaining land bridge connecting the south. A successful campaign centered on curbing the flow of illegal activities. and Central America.
In recent years, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, Colombians, Ecuadorians, ChineseAnd nationals of other countries also moved through the Darien Valley toward the U.S. southern border, prompting Mulino: declare He told the United Nations General Assembly that the “new border of the United States” was in Panama. After taking office, Mr. Mulino immediately It has begun taking steps to limit the flow of illegal immigrants through dangerous jungle trails.
Parts of this policy have been in effect since July, and the number of U.S.-bound migrants passing through the Darien Gap in 2024 decreased by 42 percent compared to the previous year. According to Statistical information from the Panama Immigration Department.
In its latest report, Panama's immigration authorities said 302,203 migrants passed through Darien's Jungle Trail in 2024, down from a record 520,085 in 2023. Of the total, 69% were Venezuelan nationals, 5.8% Colombian nationals, 5.5% Ecuadorian nationals, 4.1% Chinese nationals, and 3.9% Haitian nationals.
During the administration of former President Juan Carlos Varela, Panama established relations with China and severed ties with Taiwan. same timeaccepts the Chinese Communist Party's “One China Principle,” which falsely claims that there is only one China in the world and that Taiwan is a “province” of China.
report published Magazine in September foreign policy After taking office, Mr. Mulino moved quickly to portray Panama as a “strategic partner” of the United States, holding several talks with the U.S. government, while also warning that China, the No. He suggested that he did not show “love for her.” top customer.
Christian K. Caruso is a Venezuelan writer who chronicles life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
