Panama canal politics

US President-elect Donald Trump is eyeing the Panama Canal, decrying the “exorbitant prices and shipping fees” imposed on US ships and reclaiming control of the US-built waterway between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. is threatening.

“The fees Panama is charging are ludicrous, especially given the extraordinary generosity the United States has given Panama,” Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social.

President Trump accused Panama of “swindling” the United States, saying the canal “was not given to us for the benefit of anyone else, but simply as a sign of our cooperation with Panama. Yes, if the moral and legal principles of this canal are upheld.” If this generous donation is not followed, we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned in full, no questions asked. ”

Why was the Panama Canal built?

The 51-mile waterway through the center of Panama connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, allowing ships to avoid long and dangerous voyages around the southern tip of South America.

Creating such a passageway was an “elusive goal of several empires that had colonies in the Americas,” CNN said. After supporting the rebellion that helped Panama win independence from Colombia, the United States took control of the area and began construction in 1904.

Once completed in 1914, the canal “cemented America’s status as an engineering and technological superpower,” despite its “huge human costs.” An estimated 5,600 people died during construction.

Currently, up to 14,000 ships pass through the canal each year, transporting around $270 billion (£214 billion) worth of cargo. And the US is its biggest customer.

Who owns the Panama Canal?

Ownership of the canal has long been a matter of controversy. After the canal opened, the United States controlled the canal until it removed Panamanians, which “created tension between local residents and American visitors” for years, the Guardian reported. These tensions reached a critical point in 1964 when anti-American riots broke out in the Canal Zone, leaving several people dead and leading to a brief severance of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In 1977, the United States began returning control to Panama under a treaty signed by President Jimmy Carter. However, the move was not supported by everyone, with then-presidential candidate Ronald Reagan saying “the people of the United States” were “the rightful owners of the Canal Zone,” CNN reported.

After a period of joint custody and official neutrality “marred by the 1989 US invasion” to overthrow Manuel Noriega, Panama assumed full control in 1999 and has operated the canal through the Panama Canal Authority ever since. I am doing it.

President Trump has now suggested the canal is at risk of falling into the “wrong hands,” an apparent reference to China, the canal’s second-largest customer. The Guardian reported that “Chinese companies based in Hong Kong control two of the five ports adjacent to the canal.”

After President Trump raised the issue again in a speech on Sunday, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino said Panama’s sovereignty and independence were “non-negotiable” and that China would “do nothing” against the canal. He said he had no “influence” or control over the matter. “Every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent areas is and always will be part of Panama,” Mulino said in a video statement.

President Trump responded, “We’ll see about that!”

Why is President Trump interested in the Panama Canal?

The BBC said the canal was “running dry”. Lack of rain and El Niño conditions have caused the water level in Lake Gatun, which supplies water to the canal, to be “critically low.” Bloomberg said the drought is “impeding the canal’s ability to move ships between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.” As part of its water-saving measures, Panama has reduced the number of ships allowed to pass through and the weight they are allowed to carry, exacerbating existing pressures on its supply chain.

Despite the restrictions, the canal’s profits rose by about 9.5% to $3.45 billion (£2.7 billion) in the year ended September, according to Reuters. But authorities have been imposing increasingly high tolls on canal passage, which “appears to form part of Trump’s problem,” CNN reported. His other claim that China is seeking to exercise more control is also “not unfounded” — the region around the canal since Panama vowed in 2017 not to maintain formal relations with Taiwan. China’s influence in China is increasing.

President Trump also has forms in place for “threatening to occupy or violate territory belonging to a friendly foreign power.” He “ridiculed” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau by suggesting that Canada should become the 51st state of the United States, and during his first term he said, “The United States would buy Greenland from Denmark. He repeatedly brought up the idea,” but he also said he had “revived” the idea. ” last weekend.

The New York Times said Trump’s “not-so-subtle threats” were a reminder that he “does not always hold the sovereignty of other countries’ borders sacrosanct.” Instead, he uses the “instincts of a real estate developer who suddenly has the power of the world’s greatest military” to aid him.