Interventionist statements by President-elect Donald Trump, who suggested that the United States could reclaim control of the Panama Canal, have generated international reactions, with various countries expressing their support for Panamanian sovereignty in multiple pronouncements.
Nicaragua
“At a time when Panama’s sovereignty is once again being threatened, we join the clamor and demand of that brave people, which we know very well, in solidarity and in the voice of the great fatherland, remembering their heroism and victorious struggles,” announced Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, through a statement issued on Monday.
“We have been and are decidedly Brothers in the Noble Battles of our Peoples, to live in our Own and Sacred Lands, with our Flags held high, sure of our Historical Dignity”, reads the communiqué.
Venezuela
In the same context, the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela reiterated its firm support for Panama’s sovereignty over the inter-oceanic canal located in its territory, rejecting the interference of the United States in its attempts to illegally appropriate this strategic maritime route.
Through an official communiqué, Caracas stressed that Panamanian sovereignty over the canal was “conquered by the heroic effort of President Omar Torrijos”. The document also recalled an emblematic phrase of Torrijos: “The canal is the religion that unites Panamanians”.
Cuba
In this regard, the Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez, published a message on his social account X, in which he referred to “the Panama Canal belongs solely to that nation”.
Furthermore, in his reaction he pointed out that “the Monroe Doctrine is a neocolonial weapon against Our America” that “threatens the sovereignty of Panama and the peace and security of the hemisphere”.
Mexico
Mexico added onto this position when, the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, emphasized on Monday in her morning conference from the National Palace that she defends Panama’s sovereignty over the canal.
Panamanian president, José Raúl Mulino, responded immediatly to Trump’s threats by recalling “that every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent area belongs to Panama, and will continue to belong to Panama”.
The waterway, which links the Atlantic and the Pacific and through which about 3% of world trade passes, is part of Panama’s “history of struggle and an irreversible conquest”, said Mulino.
The Panama Canal was returned to the Central American country under the 1977 agreement signed by Democratic President Jimmy Carter, which included the canal’s neutrality and its accessibility to world trade. Panama regained full control of the commercial passage in 1999.
Trump, who will assume the U.S. presidency on January 20, criticized the canal’s tariffs, calling them “exorbitant”, and threatened to demand their “return” if the principles he considers “moral and legal” are not complied with.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – Cuba