The Republican president said in his investiture speech that The “purpose” and “spirit” of the treaty that yielded the 81 -kilometer channel, built by the United States and opened in 1914, to Panama in 1999 have been “Completely raped”with the collection of High tariffs To US banks and control that, he maintains, maintains China on the interoceanic path.
“China is operating the Panama Canal and we did not give it to China,” Trump insisted, which does not rule out the use of military force to recover control over the artificial river route that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean, which The authority of the Panama Canal (ACP) has administered for 25 years.
Simón Ferro, former US former ambassador to Panama during the transfer of the interoceanic channel to the Central American country, objects to the president’s arguments. He worshiped his allegations and denies that the “communist China has some type of interference or control over the Panama Canal,” he said in conversation with conversation Las Américas Diario.
Chinese presence
Since 1997, the Chinese company Hutchison Ports Holdingsbased in Hong Kong and offices in England, the ports of Balboa, located next to the mouth to the Pacific Ocean, and the Cristóbal, in the Atlantic entrance of the Panama Canal.
Although the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, warned that in “Moment of conflict” These ports could be used by China as a “bottleneck that prevents international trade on the channel, Ferro rules Like the port of Miami.
“Hutchison Ports It is a company that operates today in five or six of the 10 largest ports in the world (…) It is a public company (…) You and I can buy shares in this public company, but they claim that it has Chinese roots and shareholders, and from there begins the whole issue that the Chinese control the Panama Canal, which is completely absurd, “he says.
On January 21, a day after the statements of the US President, the Comptroller of Panama initiated a “Exhaustive Audit” to Panama Ports Company (PPC), subsidiary of the Chinese company Hutchison Ports Holdingswith the objective of determining if the company complies with the concession agreements agreed with Panamanian government and verify that it is properly reporting its income, payments and contributions to the State.
This is a process that “takes its time” and whose results will be announced “once culminates,” he said to the AFP A source of the Comptroller, under condition of anonymity. However, Panama Ports Company He issued a statement in which he responded to the statements of Comptroller Anel Flores, which indicate that the company “He has not given a single penny” To the Panamanian state.
Alleged that in 2021 he did “Extraordinary payments” For a total of 165 million dollars, of which 35 million correspond to five years of dividends advanced at the request of the Panama Government to face the financial crisis.
An independent authority
Ferro highlights that Beijing has no control over the Panama Canal, which is administered by the ACP, a “Independent Authority” and “autonomous of the Panamanian government”, created when the US controlled the interoceanic route.
“It is not controlled by the government, although it obviously has an influence of the Panamanian government because there are members of the Board of Directors who are appointed by him, but also It has international members. This is an independent authority, which has led to the operation and management of the channel very well, “he says.
Panama assures guarantees “neutrality” of the channel, as stipulated by the Torrijos-Carter treaty, so he cannot deny traffic to any American, Chinese or Russian ship, and manages it “reasonably” with “Reasonable and equitable rates for everyone”.
Legal basis for intervening the channel
The Deconcini amendment, annexed to the Panama Canal Neutrality Treaty, whose validity is “indefinite”, grants the right to the US to intervene in Panama if you consider that the safety, operation or geopolitical part of the river path is threatened. , in order to guarantee its neutrality.
“The Deconcini amendment gives the US the unilateral right to use military force not only in the area of the channel, but anywhere in the Republic of Panama,” said the constitutionalist and former deputy of the Panamanian people, Italo Antinori, reviewed by The truth of Panamahighlighting that This clause lacks temporary limits and leaves open interpretation what Washington considers “hinder” of operations in the channel.
However, for the former American former world There is no threat to the neutrality of the Panama Canal nor to the security of the US. In addition, he adds that the neutrality treaty itself prohibits Panama, which abolished its army in 1990, host or accept military from any country in its territory.
Ferro mentions that one of the reasons for transferring the channel to Panama was the risks that ran by being an “easy white” for US enemies, in view of the fact that the interoceanic path is lacking defense when it is completely open. “It was estimated that if it belongs to Panama, our enemies will not try to attack or destroy, because it is no longer ours,” he says.
He adds: “In the Panama Canal there is no threat that an international company, even if it has Chinese influences, can take any advantage by having a couple of small ports on each side.”
In this sense, he suggests President Trump to resume diplomatic channels with Panama. “The US, through history, has earned the trust, friendship and loyalty of other countries, not with threats, but with commerce, with loans, with aid (…) That way we buy the thanks of that country and of its population, “highlights the former ambassador.
It also highlights the ties that unite Washington with Panama for 100 years, which currently, under the government of President José Raúl Mulino, cooperates with the country at a political level, national security and fight against drug trafficking and terrorism. “Panama is a friend of the US”emphasizes.
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