President-elect Donald J. Trump's suggestion on Tuesday that the United States could take back the Panama Canal, including by force, unnerved Panamanians who previously lived with the presence of the US military in the canal zone and were once occupied by American military forces. before.
Very few people bought it Mr. Trump's threats Although very serious, Panama's Foreign Minister Javier MartÃnez-Acha announced his country's position at a press conference hours after the American president-elect mused aloud about taking back the canal.
“The sovereignty of our channel is non-negotiable and part of our history of struggle and our irreversible conquest,” said Mr. MartÃnez-Acha. “Let it be clear that the canal belongs to the Panamanians and will continue to do so.”
Experts said Mr. Trump's real intent may have been intimidation, perhaps aimed at securing favorable treatment from the Panamanian government for American ships using the passage. More broadly, they said, he could be trying to send a message to a region that will be critical to the goal of controlling the flow of migrants toward the U.S. border.
“If the US wanted to violate international law and act like Vladimir Putin, the US could invade Panama and restore the canal.” Benjamin Gedan, Director of the Latin America Program of the Wilson Center in Washington. “Nobody will see this as a legitimate move and it will not only seriously damage his image but also bring instability to the channel.”
In recent weeks, as he prepares to take office, Mr. Trump has talked repeatedly not only of seizing the Panama Canal, which the United States treaty-controlled Panama in the late 1990s, but also (albeit) buying Greenland from Denmark. not for sale as is). He returned to those expansionist themes in a wild speech at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, on Tuesday, this time refusing to rule out using military force to retake the canal.
“You may have to do something,” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Trump's comments did not sit well with the people of Panama.
Raul Arias de Para, an ecotourism entrepreneur and descendant of one of the country's founding politicians, said talk of America's military power has stirred memories of the 1989 US invasion of Panama among his compatriots. the resignation of the country's authoritarian leader, Manuel Noriega.
“This was not an invasion to colonize or take over territory,” Mr Arias de Para said. “It was tragic for those who lost loved ones, but it freed us from a huge dictatorship.”
“It's a very remote, very absurd possibility,” he said of Mr. Trump now threatening to buy back the channel. The United States has the right under the treaty to defend the canal if its operations are threatened, he said, “but that is not the case now.”
Some experts said Mr. Trump was indeed hoping to get assurances from Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino that he would work even more aggressively to stem the flow of migrants. Darien Gapthe jungle stretches hundreds of thousands of migrants They crossed the north direction and caused an increase in the US border
Mr. Mulino has already taken serious steps to prevent migrants.
Jorge Eduardo Ritter, former secretary of state and Panama's first canal minister, said: “There is no country with which the United States has cooperated more on migration than Panama.”
On his first day in office, Mr. Mulino confirmed an arrangement with the US to curb Migration through the Darien region, aided by US-sponsored flights to return migrants entering Panama illegally. The number of transitions since then dropped sharplywith the lowest numbers seen in nearly two years.
If Mr. Trump's administration were to carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean would need to agree to take not only their own deported citizens, but also people of other nationalities. Panama disagreed do.
Experts said it was equally likely that Mr Trump would seek a discount for US ships, which make up the largest proportion of ships passing through the 40-mile passage between the oceans. Tolls have also increased, as has the Panama Canal Authority fight against drought and the cost of creating a reservoir to counter it.
“I imagine the president-elect will be content with the US concession on the canal and declare victory,” said Mr. Gedan of the Wilson Center.
He said many experts on the region view Mr. Trump's belligerent statements as “standard operating procedure for a former and future president who uses such threats and intimidation even with US partners and friendly countries.”
After protracted negotiations, under then-President Jimmy Carter, the United States agreed to a plan to gradually house the canal it had built in Panama in the late 1970s. The exchange ended in December 1999.
Theories swirled this week about why Mr. Trump was focusing on the channel. Some noted that handing control of the canal to Panama has long been a sore point for Republicans.
Others said Mr Trump was concerned that the ports at the end of the channel were being run by non-Hong Kong companies. The president of Panama dismissed these concerns.
“China has no involvement or involvement in the Panama Canal,” Mr. Mulino said at a press conference in December.
A small country with just over four million people and no active military, Panama is in no position to intercept the US military, according to its Constitution. However, the protests are likely to be large and could paralyze the Panama Canal, with disastrous effects on global trade and the United States in particular, experts agree.
Mr. Ritter, a former foreign minister, said Panama could only hope that the United States would comply with international law. “It's a case of egg against stone,” he said.