The trip of the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, to countries in the region, including Panama, coincides with the repeated intention of President Donald Trump to recover control of the interoceanic channel. Panama opposes.
The imminent Visit to Panama of the new US Secretary of StateMarco Rubio, has generated expectations about what it could mean for the relations between the two countries, which are going through a complex moment after the statements of US President Donald Trump about his intention to recover control of the Panama Canal.
This first blond trip, who is the first Hispanic to lead US diplomacy, will open its international agenda in office and will occur only weeks after its inauguration. Panama will be the first stop of a tour that will also include scales in Guatemala, El Salvador, Dominican Republic and Costa Rica.
For the historian Omar Jaén Suárez, who participated in the negotiations of the Torrijos-Carter treaties who returned control of the channel to the Central American country, Rubio's visit would be beneficial to verify that there is no foreign interference in the interoceanic route, as Trump said in view of The rejection of his counterpart José Raúl Mulino.
“I think a visit from the Rubio Secretary would be very useful. Thus I could personally warn the situation. That is, China does not control the channel, and in the authority of the Panama Canal there is not a single Chinese employee, among other things, ”said Jaén Suárez, who is part of the National Foreign Affairs Council, an advisory entity of the Panamanian government.
Diplomacy as a means for dialogue
Rubio's visit to Latin America occurs at a time when President Trump has put immigration at the center of his foreign policy agenda and insisted on his “USA first” agenda, which Rubio said he would advance during his trip through Central America and the Caribbean.
This would be the second visit of a Secretary of State to Panama in less than three years, after in April 2022, the former head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, participated in a conference on migration in the Panamanian capital.
For Jaén Suárez, the “diplomacy is dialogue”, and the presence of Rubio could lead to it. The expert insisted that the opportunity to show the new US administration and Panama's position should be used.
“The message (from Rubio's visit) is that the United States government gives Panama priority. We should take advantage of it to show the reality very different from what Trump has said about the Chinese channel and influence on the isthmus, ”reiterated the historian.
Julio Yao, an international analyst and exassor of the military leader Omar Torrijos, who negotiated the Torrijos-Carter Treaty that returned control of the channel to Panama, said that Rubio's visit has a diplomatic character, so he considers that he must conduct himself in a respectful way, without imposing conditions.
“I think Marco Rubio is going to fail Panama on his first mission, since Trump's instructions will not be able to comply with orders to Panama officials. That is not going to be accepted, ”he warned.
The channel in the center of disagreement
Other analysts such as Carlos Lee, consider that this scenario anticipates a difficult relationship between Panama and the Trump administration.
“The channel is and will continue to be from Panama,” said Lee, who recommended that the Panamanian government reinforce its position before any attempt to intervention, and name a special commission that enforces Panama's rights over the interoceanic path and its territory.
He also suggested the establishment of a multilateral neutrality treaty that replaces the agreement signed with the United States in 1977, guaranteeing Panamanian sovereignty over the channel.
“Panama owns the channel, not a simple administrator, and as the owner sovereignly the decision of who can administer it,” Lee said.
For his part, the analyst José Stoute said that Rubio's visit brings a specific mission for the type of meetings and the officials he would meet.
“The Secretary of State comes to Panama to convey to the Panamanian government what Mr. Trump really intends. It is no accident that his interviews are with President José Raúl Mulino and the channel administrator. Let us hope, then, the presidential report on the content of the interview. I am not optimistic, ”said Stoute.
For the former magistrate of the Supreme Court of Justice, Graciela Dixon, Panama and President José Raúl Mulino, they should not allow the issue of the channel to be imposed as a center on the discussion agenda.
Dixon said Marco Rubio must be received in Panama, but to deal with issues such as migration, security and drug trafficking, but not to talk about the channel.
Common interest issues
In the recent World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, President José Raúl Mulino stressed that relations between the two nations must be joined based on achieving objectives based on common interests.
Among the common interests mentioned by the Panamanian president, is the control of migratory flows to the United States, which pass through Panama.
“We have that migration quite controlled and reduced,” said Mulino, whose government signed a memorandum of understanding last July With the government of now former president Joe Biden, who has allowed Washington to repatriate Panama to more than 1,500 migrants, mostly with criminal records, through flights financed by the US government.
The administration of Mulino also established more strict measures to stop the intersection of migrants through the Darien plug on the border between Panama and Colombia.
In 2024, Panama closed with 42 % less migrants compared to 2023, when exceeded a record of half a million peopleaccording to official figures, who in most cases arrived in the country en route to the US.
Regarding the bilateral relationship, Mulino clarified that historically there is an important presence of US transnational banks and interests established in Panama.
Panamanians close ranks
So far, the Panama government has not issued an official statement on the visit, however, the unions and the population have their opinions about Rubio's arrival in the country.
The National Single Union of Construction Workers and the Similar (SUNTRACS), one of the country's main union organizations, was the first to pronounce against.
“Here the sovereignty of the Panamanian people about their territory, on their channel, on their self -determination and under no criteria we accept blackmail of any kind,” said Saúl Méndez, general secretary of the Suntracs.
In the streets, the expectation has also been felt, the Panamanians have closed ranks in defense of the channel.
“If Mr. Rubio comes to Panama to play issues such as migration, investment and commercial exchange with the United States, he will not affect relations between the two countries, but if he comes with any intention of negotiating the channel, better not come because That issue is not touched, ”he told the Voice of AmericaEmir Iturriaga, resident of the province of Panama.
Alina Álvarez, an administrator of residential buildings in Panama City, said that the United States must be more careful in their comments, “since we are not a state of them but a country with sovereignty, and that is respected.”
“On the visit of Marco Rubio, I hope he helps him see the reality of Panama and educa on the channel. We are not on sale. The Panama Canal is from the Panamanians, ”said the university student, Selena Guerra.
“The United States must be smarter, not arrogant. The most logical thing is to reach a good agreement as a businessman and not as a dictator, ”said Joaquín Ortega, resident in Panama Este.
The United States had an important role in the construction of the channel and administered the territory that surrounds the maritime passage for decades. Washington and Panama signed agreements in 1977 that raided the way for the return of the channel to the total control of Panama. The US delivered it in 1999 after a joint administration period.
Even before his investiture, Trump has accused Panama of breaking the transfer agreement and insisted that the interoceanic route is operated by China, statements that the Panamanian government has repeatedly denied.
“We did not give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we will recover it, ”Trump said in your possession speechon January 20.
Mulino has responded that the Panama Canal “is and will continue to be Panamanian.” Panama has also alerted the United Nations about Trump's comments.