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Jose Raul Mulino says Panama will not negotiate control of the Panama Strategic Channel during the upcoming Marco Rubio visit.
Panamanian President Jose Raul Moulino has ruled out the discussion of control of Panama channel with the senior diplomat of the United States Marco Rubio, who is scheduled to visit the Central American country.
On Thursday, Mulino repeated his rejection of US President Donald Trump that the channel – which connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean – is run by China.
Trump pledged to control the strategic waterway, which is very important to trade.
“I cannot negotiate, less open, negotiations on the channel,” Mulino told reporters. “This is closed. The channel belongs to Panama.”
Several American media reported that Rubio will travel to Panama and other countries in the region in the coming days, on his first foreign trip as minister of the United States.
The United States helped build and control the channel when it was first completed in 1914, but the 1977 treaty was handing over the United States full control of the waterway to Panama in 1999.
Trump has made the channel a higher priority than foreign policy, claiming without evidence that Panama overcame the American ships and allowed the Chinese military presence around the canal.
Trump asked the journalists: “He was asked earlier this month whether he would rule out the use of military force to achieve this goal.
The US President also stressed the case during his opening speech.
He said: “The American ships are largely shipped and are not treated fairly in any way, shape or shape, and that includes the American navy.” Above all, China is working on Panama. We did not present it to China, we presented it to Panama, and we return it. “
According to the Panama Channel Authority, the agency that runs the waterway, the channel achieved nearly $ 5 billion in revenues last year.
On Thursday, Mulino said that Panama had not received any information from the United States about “the alleged military presence of another country in the channel.”
He said: “The Panama channel is controlled by Panama, and its administration has always been in the hands of Panamuce.”
Mulino added that Panama has other issues to discuss with Rubio during his visit, including migration and drug trafficking.
Panama is located at the southern end of Central America, on the border with Colombia. Many South America immigrants travel via Panama to reach the American border.
The United States invaded Panama in 1989 to overthrow President Manuel Nuriga, who was accused by Washington of drug smuggling.
