Panama City – Panama President Jose Raul Mulino said on Thursday that there will be no negotiations with the United States on the ownership of the Panama Channel, and hopes that they will allow them to visit the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to focus on common interests, including immigration and anti -drug trafficking.
Being the first destination of an external visit by the best American diplomat that was great for Panama anyway, but Rubio comes as an envoy to US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly suggested that the United States repeat the Panama channel.
On the day of his inauguration, Trump claimed that the American ships were “excessive charging and are not treated fairly in any way, shape or shape,” noting that “above all, China is working on the Panama channel.” He had previously said that the United States could demand the channel.
Mulino tried to reduce tension at his weekly press conference on Thursday. He talked about the desire to clarify confusion about China’s role in the channel-Hong Kong Union runs the ports on both sides, but Panama controls the channel-predetermined on the long-term concession that was conducted to control the ports.
“It is impossible, I cannot negotiate,” Mulino said when asked about the return of the channel to control the United States. “This is done. The channel belongs to Panama.”
The United States built the channel in the early twentieth century, as it was looking for ways to facilitate the transit of commercial and military ships between its coasts. Washington abandoned the control of the waterway to Panama on December 31, 1999, under a treaty signed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977.
“The only thing I want is to wipe all the garbage from the path, clean the table and be able to speak with the United States very frankly,” Mulino said on issues including migration, security and drug trafficking.
Rubio is scheduled to meet with Mulino Sunday and visit the channel.
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2025-01-30 17:47:00
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