In a major victory for the United States and President Donald Trump, Panama on Tuesday said it would exit China's Belt and Road Initiative and reaffirmed its security relationship with the United States.
"The U.S. and Panama are rebooting their strategic partnership, ditching China’s influence and locking in a robust security upgrade centered on the Panama Canal," Raheem Kassam reported for The National Pulse from Panama late Tuesday evening.
Following a Tuesday meeting with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino and Panama Canal Authority Administrator Ricaurte Vásquez in Panama City, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said a new commitment has been reached to boost joint military training, strengthen cyber and maritime defense, and streamline military vessel passage through the Panama Canal.
Hegseth said: "China did not build this canal. China does not operate this canal. And China will not weaponize this canal. Together with Panama in the lead, we will keep the canal secure and available for all nations through the deterrent power of the strongest, most effective, and most lethal fighting force in the world."
"The United States will not allow China or any other nation to jeopardize the operation of the canal," Hegseth added. "To this end, the United States and Panama have done more in recent weeks to strengthen our defense and security cooperation than we have in decades."
Hegseth pointed to concerns over Chinese influence over the canal, particularly ports at either end currently controlled by a Hong Kong consortium, which has announced plans to sell its controlling stake to a group that includes U.S.-based BlackRock.
"China-based companies continue to control critical infrastructure in the canal area," Hegseth said. "That gives China the potential to conduct surveillance activities across Panama. This makes Panama and the United States less secure, less prosperous, and less sovereign. And as President Donald Trump has pointed out, that situation is not acceptable."
Panama is the first nation in the Western Hemisphere to formally exit the Chinese Communist Party's infrastructure scheme that it calls the Belt and Road Initiative.
The Chinese Embassy in Panama slammed the American government in a statement on X, saying the U.S. has used "blackmail" to further its own interests and that who Panama carries out business with is a "sovereign decision of Panama ... and something the U.S. doesn't have the right to interfere in."
"The U.S. has carried out a sensationalistic campaign about the 'theoretical Chinese threat' in an attempt to sabotage Chinese-Panamanian cooperation, which is all just rooted in the United States' own geopolitical interests," the embassy wrote.
Under the new agreement signed by the U.S. and Panama on Tuesday:
• Warships and auxiliary vessels from both nations will be guaranteed expedited passage through the Canal under Treaty obligations;
• A new mechanism will be developed to compensate Panama for tolls and charges under the “First and Free” neutrality framework;
• A new Memorandum of Understanding will expand U.S.-Panama military collaboration at joint-use facilities;
• Regular joint jungle warfare training will resume, and the large-scale PANAMAX 2026 defense exercise will return to Panamanian soil;
• A new Joint Statement of Understanding between Minister Juan Manuel Abrego and U.S. Admiral Alvin Holsey will bolster security cooperation and professional education;
• Strategic, cyber, and maritime security planning will be enhanced with U.S. Department of Defense support;
• The U.S. Southern Command and the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) signed a new Cyber Cooperation Arrangement;
• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will continue providing technical support to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Canal.
Earlier on Tuesday, Hegseth said he intends to partially reopen the long-shuttered Fort Sherman in Panama. Referred to as the “Jungle School,” up to 9,000 troops a year trained in jungle warfare from the 1950s to 1999 in the former Panama Canal Zone.Mulino and Hegseth released a joint statement following their talks. The Spanish version of the statement includes the line: “Secretary Hegseth recognized the leadership and inalienable sovereignty of Panama over the Panama Canal and its adjacent areas.”
That line is not in the English-language version released by the Pentagon, The Associated Press noted.
Free Press International
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