Panama submitted a formal letter to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the U.N. Security Council on Monday rejecting comments made by President Trump during his inauguration speech about taking back the Panama Canal.
“We didn’t give it to China,” Trump said after being sworn in. “We gave it to Panama and now we’re taking it back.”
The letter, dated January 20 and seen by The New York Times, was accompanied by a statement from Panamanian President José Raul Mulino, who said on behalf of the country and people of Panamania, “I must completely reject Donald Trump’s President Trump’s remarks on this matter.” Panama and its canal in his inaugural address. “
“The canal is and will continue to belong to Panama,” Mr. Mulino said.
The letter cited two articles of the United Nations Charter that prohibit member states from using threats and force against “territorial integrity or political independence,” saying that such actions are inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations and suggesting that Trump’s remarks violated United Nations regulations. .
Panama has not requested a Security Council meeting on the issue, but diplomats said a meeting could be arranged if tensions between the United States and Panama persist.
The United States is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council with veto power.
Since the end of last year, Trump has repeatedly pointed the finger at Panama, falsely claiming that Panama had ceded control of the canal to China and that the United States must take back this strategic channel.
These claims have been repeatedly refuted by President Mulino, who said after Trump mentioned the Panama Canal in a speech at the end of December, “Every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent areas is part of Panama. will become part of Panama.
“Our country’s sovereignty and independence are non-negotiable,” he added at the time.
The canal was built by the United States in the early 20th century, but after lengthy negotiations in the late 1970s, the United States agreed in 1999 to hand over full control to Panama. The company completed an expansion of the canal in 2016 to accommodate larger cargo ships.
Trump has not given up on his claims. In a lengthy speech this month at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, he refused to rule out using force to retake the canal. “You may have to do something,” Trump said.
The announcement unnerved Panamanians, many of whom remember not only the days when the United States controlled the canal and surrounding territory, known as the Canal Zone, but also the 1989 U.S. military invasion of Panama to overthrow the dictatorship of Manuel Noriega regime.
“This is not an invasion to colonize or seize territory,” said Raúl Arias de Para, an ecotourism entrepreneur and descendant of one of Panama’s founders. “It frees us from horrific dictatorships.”
On Monday, Mulino quickly issued a statement condemning the incoming U.S. president’s comments.
“Dialogue is always a way to clarify the issues raised without compromising our rights, full sovereignty and ownership of the canal,” Mr Mulino said in a statement posted on X on Monday afternoon.
However, late Monday, the Office of the Auditor General of Panama announced that auditors had visited the county’s maritime authority to initiate an audit of Panama Ports, a subsidiary of Hutchison Port Holdings. The company is a major port operator and the country’s main port concessionaire. It is also part of Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings.
“The purpose of this detailed audit is to ensure the efficient and transparent use of public resources,” the audit office said.
Trump’s comments in his inaugural address seemed to foreshadow an escalation in tensions with Mulino, who has expressed a willingness to help the United States restrict immigration at the U.S. border since taking office last year.
The number of migrants in the Darien Gap region fell sharply last year after Panama introduced tighter restrictions to complement the Biden administration’s new asylum policy. In August 2023, a record 80,000 migrants passed through the Darien Gorge in a single month. In December, Panamanian officials reported that fewer than 5,000 people had experienced the condition.
Emiliano Rodriguez Mejia Reports from Mexico City and Julie Turkowitz From Bogota.
