Panama leader refuses to demand the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to deal with American warships to pass the Panama channel for free

Panama city On Thursday, the Panamian President Jose Raul Mulino denied the US State Department’s claim that his country had reached a deal to allow us to warships to transfer the Panama channel for free.

Mulino said that he told US Defense Secretary Beit Higseth on Wednesday that he could not specify the fees for the channel’s transfer or to exempt anyone from them and that he was surprised by the statement of the US State Department indicating late on Wednesday.

“I completely reject this statement yesterday,” Mulino said, adding that he had asked Panama’s ambassador to Washington to object to the State Department statement.

Wednesday evening, the US State Department He said in a social media post: “US government ships can now transfer the Panama channel without fees, which provides the United States government millions of dollars annually.” The Ministry had no immediate comment on Molino’s comments on Thursday.

The Panama Channel Authority put its own statement later on Wednesday night, saying it had “no modifications” to the fees, adding that it was ready to create a dialogue with relevant officials from the United States regarding crossing. US naval ships. “

Mulino said that the American statement “really surprises me because they issue an important institutional statement from the entity that governs the US foreign policy during the era of the President of the United States on a false basis. This is unbearable.”

Various publications came a few days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Mulino And the officials of the channel and visited the embarrassment trade road. He had carried a message from President Trump that China’s influence on the channel was unacceptable, because the Trump administration pushes us Control of the channelAnd it is He says he needs US economic security.

Panama channel serves as an acronym between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Although the United States has led the construction of the main waterway that is now moving by about 40 % of the world’s shipping ships, its control was given to Panama in 1999.

At their meeting, Rubio told the Panamanian leader that Mr. Trump decided that China’s influence on the channel poses a “threat to the channel and represents a violation of the treaty regarding permanent neutrality and the operation of the Panama channel,” a Panama channel spokesman said.

Molino refuted these allegations, and said on Thursday that the constitution of Panama and its laws regulating the channel’s body show that the government or the authority can give up the fees.

“It is constitutional restrictions,” he said.