Panama City (AP) – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared the president of Panamanian on Sunday, José Raúl Mulino, which the Central America ally had to reduce Chinese influence immediately on the area of the Panama canal or Faced with potential reprisals from the Trump administration.
Rubio, during his first foreign trip as the first American diplomat, had face -to -face discussions with Mulino, who resisted the pressure of the new American government on the management by Panama of a navigable path that is vital for global trade.
WATCH: Rubio makes the first comments after confirmation as Secretary of State of Trump
Mulino told journalists after the meeting that Rubio had “no real threat to resume the channel or the use of force”.
Speaking on behalf of President Donald Trump, who demanded that the channel be returned to the American control, Rubio told Mulino that Trump had decided preliminary that the presence of China in the violent channel zone a treaty that led the United States in Panama in 1999. This treaty calls for permanent neutrality of the channel built by the Americans, which Rubio planned to visit Sunday later.
“Secretary Rubio clearly indicated that this status quo was unacceptable and that in the absence of immediate changes, it would force the United States to take necessary measures to protect its rights under the treaty,” said the department of ‘State during a summary of the meeting.
The declaration was unusually frank in diplomatic terms, but in accordance with the tenor and the tone that Trump established for foreign policy. Trump increased the pressure on Washington neighbors and allies, including the channel’s request and the announcement on Saturday that it imposed major prices in Canada and Mexico. This caused reprisals of these close allies, launching a trade war.
Find out more: Canada and Mexico order reprisals for us while Trump’s prices stimulate trade war
Mulino, on the other hand, called his talks with Rubio “respectful” and “positive” and said that he had not “felt that there was a real threat against the treaty and its validity”.
He recognized that the role of China in the ports at each end of the canal had raised concerns with Washington. But the president said that the consortium which controlled them was audited and that the authority of the canal would give Rubio a more detailed explanation.
Mulino said Panama would not renew its agreement with the initiative of the belt and the road to China at the expiration. Panama has joined the initiative, which promotes and finances infrastructure and development projects which, according to criticism, leave the poor countries who are poorly liable to China, after having abandoned the diplomatic recognition of Taiwan and recognized Beijing.
About 200 people walked in the capital on Sunday, carrying Panamanian flags and shouting “Marco Rubio du Panama”, “National Sovereignty of Long Live” and “a territory, a flag” while the meeting took place. Some burned a banner with images from Trump and Rubio after being arrested below the presidential palace by riot police.
Rubio also supported Trump’s best goal – limit illegal immigration – telling the president of Panama that he was important to collaborate on work and thanked him for having taken up the migrants. The trip of Rubio, however, presents itself as a freeze on funding funds for American foreign aid and arrest work orders closed the programs funded by the United States targeting illegal migration and crime in Central American countries.
Friday, in an opinion article of the Wall Street Journal, Rubio said that mass migration, drugs and hostile policies exercised by Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela have wreaked havoc, and that port facilities end of the canal are managed by a company based in China, leaving, leaving the vulnerable navigable way to pressure from the Beijing government.
“The president was clear enough that he wants to administer the channel again,” said Rubio on Thursday. “Obviously, the Panamanians are not big fans of this idea. This message was very clear. »»
Despite the rejection by Mulino of any negotiations on property, some believe that Panama could be open to a compromise in which the operations of the channel on both sides are removed from the company Hutchison Ports, based in Hong Kong, which received an extension Without 25 years old bid to run them. An audit on the ability of this extension is already underway and could lead to a process of re -enact.
What is not clear is if Trump would accept the transfer of the concession to an American or European company to respond to its requests, which seem to cover more than operations.
The trip of Rubio, who will also take him to Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, intervenes in the middle of a freezing of foreign aid in the United States. The State Department said on Sunday that Rubio had approved derogations from certain critical programs in the countries it visits, but that the details were not immediately available.
The writer of the Associated Press Ellen Knickmeyer contributed to Washington.
