Panama’s leader rejects State Department claim of deal for U.S. warships to traverse Panama Canal for free
Panama City – Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino denied the U.S. State Department claiming that his country has reached a deal to allow U.S. warships to cross the Panama Canal for free.
Mourino said he had told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday that he could neither set fees to cross the canal nor exempt anyone from him, and was surprised by the State Department statement, suggesting Wednesday Later.
“I completely rejected this statement yesterday,” Murino said in a weekly press conference, adding that he had asked Panama’s ambassador in Washington to object to the State Department’s statement.
On Wednesday night, the U.S. State Department Say in social media post: “U.S. government ships can now pass through the Panama Canal without fees, saving the U.S. government millions a year.” The department did not immediately comment on Murino’s speech on Thursday.
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Panama Canal authorities issued their own concise statement later Wednesday, saying it had “no adjustments to the fees” and added that it was willing to establish dialogue with relevant U.S. officials. ”
Mourino said the U.S. statement “really surprised me because they are under the false statement of the important agency that governs U.S. foreign policy under the U.S. president. It is unbearable.”
The different versions are days after the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets Murino Canal administrators and visited key trade routes. He conveyed President Trump’s message that China’s influence on the canal is unacceptable because the Trump administration pushes us Control the canal,it Say this requires US economic security.
The Panama Canal is a shortcut between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Although the United States led the construction of the main waterway, which now has about 40% of freight ship traffic passing through, its control measures were awarded to Panama in 1999.
Rubio told Panamanian leaders at the meeting that Mr. Trump determined that China’s impact on the canal poses a “threat to the canal and represents violations of the treaty regarding the permanent and action of the Panamanian canal,” the spokesman said. In the statement.
Mulino refuted these claims, saying Thursday that Panama’s constitution and laws regulating canal authorities clearly state that neither the government nor the authorities can exempt fees.
“This is a constitutional restriction,” he said.
