Trump, Panama and the Canal
Published in Juventude Rebelde
(Cuba) on 14 April 2025
by Marina Menéndez Quintero (link to original)
(Cuba) on 14 April 2025
by Marina Menéndez Quintero (link to original)
Translated from
by Patricia Simoni.
Edited by Michelle Bisson.
Anyone who thought Donald Trump's anti-immigrant war or his constant stream tariff threats would make him forget his proposal to regain his country’s control over the Panama Canal was wrong.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s most recent visit to Panama last Wednesday refutes any doubt about that.
A memorandum released a few hours after, first from Washington and then in the isthmus nation, heralds the return of U.S. Marines to bases once infamous for providing cover -- such as Howard Air Force Base and Rodman Naval Station.
This has outraged many citizens who remember the 1989 U.S. invasion that caused a still undetermined number of casualties. The Pentagon introduced and supposedly tested ultra-modern weapons after the capture of Manuel Antonio Noriega, commander of the Panamanian Defense Forces, who was accused of drug trafficking.
The Panamanian Foreign Ministry has said that the presence of U.S. troops and their military paraphernalia is temporary and that U.S. troops are specifically there to carry out joint maneuvers.
But citizens have many reasons to be concerned because of America’s interventionist past. U.S. influence in the economic and political life of this nation is quite recent; reversing it took decades of struggle to restore "Panamanian nature” and for the withdrawal of the U.S. military from the so-called Canal Zone.
There are also other diplomatic reasons to be on guard and that arouse well-founded suspicion. For the second time since the visit of a Trump administration official — previously it was Secretary of State Marco Rubio — the English translation of the final texts of the agreement omitted the phrase that establishes Panamanian sovereignty over that enclave.
After that, President José Raúl Mulino declared that the interoceanic passage was strictly Panamanian.
In addition, observers have highlighted the uneven nature of the newly signed and little publicized agreement that reestablishes approval for the deployment of U.S. troops in Panama. As it evolved, the agreement now includes priority and exemptions for the U.S. in the transit of its warships through the canal, with Panama receiving as yet unclear "compensation" for security services.
The agreement follows Panama's declaration that certified its exit from the Chinese initiatives of the Belt and Road Initiative. Obviously, this was a measure required by the White House, which is already known to be fighting a relentless battle against the technological development and expansion of the Asian giant’s trade relations in Latin America. And that provides a rationale for Washington's focus on the canal.
And that isn’t the only development here. There has also been talk of suspending negotiations for two Hong Kong companies to operate in Panamanian ports.
One might think Trump's threat to “retake” the canal — which does not belong to his country — is merely a threat made to achieve his goal. However, given his imposition of tariffs, he sets his objectives, establishes deadlines, then negotiates on whatever is offered.
The dangerous thing is that, where Panama is concerned, his goals are being met little by little.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s most recent visit to Panama last Wednesday refutes any doubt about that.
A memorandum released a few hours after, first from Washington and then in the isthmus nation, heralds the return of U.S. Marines to bases once infamous for providing cover -- such as Howard Air Force Base and Rodman Naval Station.
This has outraged many citizens who remember the 1989 U.S. invasion that caused a still undetermined number of casualties. The Pentagon introduced and supposedly tested ultra-modern weapons after the capture of Manuel Antonio Noriega, commander of the Panamanian Defense Forces, who was accused of drug trafficking.
The Panamanian Foreign Ministry has said that the presence of U.S. troops and their military paraphernalia is temporary and that U.S. troops are specifically there to carry out joint maneuvers.
But citizens have many reasons to be concerned because of America’s interventionist past. U.S. influence in the economic and political life of this nation is quite recent; reversing it took decades of struggle to restore "Panamanian nature” and for the withdrawal of the U.S. military from the so-called Canal Zone.
There are also other diplomatic reasons to be on guard and that arouse well-founded suspicion. For the second time since the visit of a Trump administration official — previously it was Secretary of State Marco Rubio — the English translation of the final texts of the agreement omitted the phrase that establishes Panamanian sovereignty over that enclave.
After that, President José Raúl Mulino declared that the interoceanic passage was strictly Panamanian.
In addition, observers have highlighted the uneven nature of the newly signed and little publicized agreement that reestablishes approval for the deployment of U.S. troops in Panama. As it evolved, the agreement now includes priority and exemptions for the U.S. in the transit of its warships through the canal, with Panama receiving as yet unclear "compensation" for security services.
The agreement follows Panama's declaration that certified its exit from the Chinese initiatives of the Belt and Road Initiative. Obviously, this was a measure required by the White House, which is already known to be fighting a relentless battle against the technological development and expansion of the Asian giant’s trade relations in Latin America. And that provides a rationale for Washington's focus on the canal.
And that isn’t the only development here. There has also been talk of suspending negotiations for two Hong Kong companies to operate in Panamanian ports.
One might think Trump's threat to “retake” the canal — which does not belong to his country — is merely a threat made to achieve his goal. However, given his imposition of tariffs, he sets his objectives, establishes deadlines, then negotiates on whatever is offered.
The dangerous thing is that, where Panama is concerned, his goals are being met little by little.
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