U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Panamanian leader José Raúl Mulino on Sunday to minimize Chinese influence in the Panama Canal area or risk punishment from the U.S.
On his first foreign trip as top US ambassador, Rubio visited Central America and saw the Panama Canal. He spoke with Mulino, who has resisted criticism from the new US administration over control of a canal essential to global trade.
Following the discussion, Mulino informed reporters that Rubio made “no real threat of retaking the canal or the use of force.”
Speaking on behalf of Trump, who has requested that the canal be returned to US control, Rubio told Mulino that Trump believed China’s presence in the canal area could violate a treaty that forced the US to hand over the waterway to Panama in 1999. The pact requires the canal, which was built by Americans, to remain neutral indefinitely.
“Secretary Rubio made clear that this status quo is unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights under the treaty,” the State Department said in a summary of the meeting.
The remark was unusually harsh diplomatically, but it was consistent with the tone and tenor set by Trump’s foreign policy. Trump has increased pressure on Washington’sneighbourss and allies, including the canal demand, and announced on Saturday that he would impose significant tariffs on Canada and Mexico. That sparked a trade war by eliciting a response from those close allies.
Mulino, meanwhile, described his meetings with Rubio as “respectful” and “positive,” and stated that he does not “feel like there’s a real threat against the treaty and its validity.”
The president did state that Panama would not renew its deal with China’s Belt and Road Initiative when it expires. Panama joined the initiative, which promotes and funds infrastructure and development projects that opponents claim leave poor member countries significantly in debt to China, after abandoning diplomatic recognition of Taiwan in favor of Beijing.
Rubio later toured the canal at twilight with its administrator, Ricaurte Vásquez, who stated that the waterway would stay under Panama’s control and be available to all countries. Rubio crossed the lock and went to the control tower, looking down at the water below, where a red tanker was passing.
Earlier, some 200 people marched through the city, brandishing Panamanian flags and yelling “Marco Rubio out of Panama,” “Long live national sovereignty,” and “One territory, one flag” while the conference was in progress. After being stopped by riot police just outside the presidential palace, several people burnt a flag with portraits of Trump and Rubio.
Rubio again pressed Trump’s primary priority, reducing illegal immigration, telling Panama’s president that collaboration was essential and thanking him for returning migrants. Rubio’s trip, however, coincides with a US foreign aid funding freeze and stop-work orders that have shut down US-funded initiatives aimed at combating illegal migration and crime in Central American countries.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced in a Sunday evening post on X, previously Twitter, that he will travel to the United States-Mexico border on Monday to visit troops sent as part of Trump’s immigration crackdown.
In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece published Friday, Rubio stated that mass migration, drugs, and hostile policies pursued by Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela have wreaked havoc, and port facilities at either end of the canal are run by a Chinese company, making the waterway vulnerable to pressure from the Beijing government.
“The president’s been pretty clear he wants to administer the canal again,” Rubio said Thursday. “The Panamanians are not big fans of that idea. That message has been brought very clear.”
Despite Mulino’s refusal to negotiate over ownership, some believe Panama may be open to a solution in which canal operations on both sides are transferred from the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Ports business, which was given a 25-year no-bid extension to run them. An audit into the suitability of the extension is already underway, which could result in a rebidding process.
It is unclear whether Trump would consider the transfer of the concession to an American or European corporation as achieving his conditions, which appear to extend beyond operations.
Rubio’s journey, which will also take him to El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic, coincides with a freeze in US foreign assistance. The State Department said on Sunday that Rubio had approved waivers for certain vital programs in the nations he is visiting, but specifics were not immediately available.
