Rubio demands Panama 'reduce China influence' over canal

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has demanded that Panama make “immediate changes” to what he calls China’s “influence and control” over the Panama Canal. Rubio stated that Panama must take action, or the United States will take the necessary measures to protect its rights under the two countries’ treaties. This warning comes after President Donald Trump vowed to take back the canal and Rubio met with Panamanian conservative President Jose Raul Mulino in Panama City.

Following their two-hour meeting, the two seemed to have different interpretations of what was discussed. Mulino told reporters that he did not believe there was a serious threat of the U.S. using military force to seize the canal. He stated that he had proposed technical-level talks with the U.S. to address President Trump’s concerns about Chinese influence. However, Trump’s vow to take back the canal has sparked a strong backlash in Panama. Last Friday, protesters in Panama City burned effigies of Trump and Rubio.

Riot police moved against another group of demonstrators, firing tear gas and forcibly removing individuals. While the clashes were small in scale, there is widespread resentment against the U.S. president’s stance. Mulino said on Thursday that the issue of the canal’s ownership would not be discussed with Rubio. “I cannot negotiate the canal, nor can I even open a negotiation process. The canal belongs to Panama, and that is an established fact,” he said.

Trump’s remarks about the canal included unsubstantiated claims that Chinese soldiers were operating the canal. He also stated that U.S. ships were unfairly charged higher fees than others, which would be illegal under treaty agreements. In reality, the waterway is owned and operated by the Panamanian government and has a neutrality treaty with the United States. However, Chinese companies have made significant investments in ports and docks near the canal. A Hong Kong-based company operates two of the five ports near the canal’s entrance.

Trump's hardline stance, even including the possibility of military action to seize the canal, has stirred a strong patriotic response in the small, strategic nation. “This is absurd,” said Marie, a Panama City resident who asked that her last name not be published. “There is a treaty that he has to respect, and there is nothing in the treaty that says we cannot have the Chinese operate the ports,” she told the BBC, noting that U.S. ports and cities also have Chinese investment. Marie explained that many residents have fresh memories of the U.S. controlling the canal and do not want to return to the past.

The U.S. and Panama signed a treaty in 1979 that initiated the handover process, with Panama taking full control of the canal in 1999. “If we did not comply with all the U.S. rules, we could not enter the Canal Zone without being arrested. Once you crossed that border, you were in the United States,” Marie said. “We had no rights in our own country, and we are not going to tolerate that again… we are very angry about [Trump’s] statements.”

For some, Trump’s refusal to rule out the use of force has also raised suspicion and fear. It brings to mind the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama to oust de facto ruler General Manuel Noriega, a conflict that lasted weeks and quickly crushed the Panamanian military. “When Noriega said he was going to kill all the opposition leaders if the U.S. invaded, I was a political leader of the opposition,” former Panamanian congressman Edwin Cabrera told the BBC next to the locks at the Pacific entrance to the canal.

“I heard the bombs, and I started to see people die… and the only thing that President Trump and Rubio are saying is that they are going to invade us,” he told the BBC. “I do not want to live through that again in the 21st century, reliving the experience of imperialism. Panama is in the middle of a war between two great powers, the U.S. and China, and we are looking up at the sky.”

Marco Rubio, the first Latino Secretary of State, is known for his hardline stances against some leaders in the region and against China. While Panama has worked closely with the U.S. on many issues, Rubio's visit aimed to signal that the current administration would not tolerate countries that it considers its backyard absorbing Chinese investment. In Panama, he claimed that China could ultimately use its interests in the ports to block U.S. commercial or military vessels in the event of a conflict or trade war.

“If China wants to impede traffic in the Panama Canal, they can do it. That’s the reality… and that’s the issue that President Trump is raising, and we are going to fix it… this dynamic cannot continue,” Rubio said last week on the Megan Kelly Show. Although the general Panamanian population is largely in favor of their country owning the canal, some remain skeptical of their leadership, arguing that the profits from the waterway do not benefit enough ordinary Panamanians.

“What you see here—the U.S. and Donald Trump wanting to take back the canal—that’s what we call cause and effect,” said Andre Howell, a hotel worker in Panama City’s historic center. “They have not managed the Panama Canal in the right way… no Panamanians are benefiting from it,” he said.