Mere hours after Marco Rubio touched down in Panama, the Central American nation caved in to President Donald Trump’s pressure. They’re still talking tough but their actions show they’re scurrying to get into compliance. China wasn’t happy to hear what they did over the weekend.
Panama caves in
The president of Panama was visibly rattled at a local press conference. On Sunday, February 2, Raúl Mulino broke the bad news to China. He didn’t want to look like a total schmuck on state TV, so began his remarks with hard-line bluster.
Panama’s “sovereignty” over the canal “is not up for debate,” he declared. That’s actually a true statement. It’s decided by the terms of the treaty signed by Jimmy Carter’s administration.
He then grudgingly admitted that “during talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio,” he and his officials “addressed the United States’ concerns over China’s presence around the vital waterway.”
Since, contrary to his nation’s belief, Trump really does have the power to snatch back the Panama Canal, he decided to honor our agreement.
As an act of good faith, President Mulino announced that “Panama would not renew a 2017 memorandum of understanding to join China’s overseas development initiative, known as the Belt and Road.”
The Pooh Bear went postal when he heard that “the deal with China could end early.” Those fancy shipping terminals operated on both ends of the canal by China could soon be “nationalized.”
Work with the US
Instead of cuddling up to the communists, the president of Panama decided to make friends with Uncle Sam. If they want to keep the canal we built, they have to insure it doesn’t fall into Chinese hands.
As an incentive, Secretary Rubio dangled a carrot of economic development. Backed up with the big stick of sanctions and military intervention.
Panama, Mulino declared, as if it was his idea all along, “will seek to work with the U.S. on new investments, including infrastructure projects.” That’s a whole lot better than being chased out of the Canal Zone by marines.
“I think this visit opens the door to build new relations,” he concedes. Instead of ducking bullets he would rather increase U.S. investments “as much as possible.”
With the future of all foreign aid in the hands of his visitor, Mulino was beginning to regret allowing his peasants to protest Rubio’s arrival. As he stepped off the jet, American flags were burning next to his effigy. That didn’t help things much.
The State Department issued a summary of the meeting which noted Rubio told Panamanian officials that “concerns over China’s ‘control‘ of the Panama Canal may mean the U.S. has to ‘take measures necessary to protect its rights‘ per a longstanding treaty on the neutrality and operation of the canal.“
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