Panamanians protest ‘public enemy’ Trump’s canal threat
By AFP
December 24, 2024
Demonstrators burn Donald Trump's image following his threat to demand control of the Panama Canal be returned to Washington, on December 24, 2024, in Panama City, Panama - Copyright AFP ARNULFO FRANCO
Protesters in Panama on Tuesday burned an image of US President-elect Donald Trump following his threat to demand control of the Panamanians protest ‘public enemy’ Trump’s canal threat
ByAFPPublishedDecember 24, 2024
Demonstrators burn Donald Trump's image following his threat to demand control of the Panama Canal be returned to Washington, on December 24, 2024, in Panama City, Panama
Demonstrators burn Donald Trump's image following his threat to demand control of the Panama Canal be returned to Washington, on December 24, 2024, in Panama City, Panama - Copyright AFP ARNULFO FRANCO
Protesters in Panama on Tuesday burned an image of US President-elect Donald Trump following his threat to demand control of the country’s interoceanic canal be returned to Washington.
Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the US embassy chanting “Trump, animal, leave the canal alone” and “Get out invading gringo,” as about 20 police officers guarded the compound.
Some in the crowd carried banners reading “Donald Trump, public enemy of Panama.”
“The (Panamanian) people have shown that they are capable of recovering their territory and we are not going to give it up again,” protester Jorge Guzman told AFP.
The canal, inaugurated in 1914, was built by the United States but handed to Panama on December 31, 1999, under treaties signed some two decades earlier by then-US president Jimmy Carter and Panamanian nationalist leader Omar Torrijos.
“Panama is a sovereign territory and the canal here is Panamanian,” said Saul Mendez, the leader of a construction union that jointly organized the protest.
“Donald Trump and his imperial delusion cannot claim even a single centimeter of land in Panama,” Mendez added.
Trump on Saturday slammed what he called unfair fees for US ships passing through the Panama Canal and hinted at China’s growing influence.
If Panama could not ensure “the secure, efficient and reliable operation” of the channel, “then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question,” he said.
The status of the canal is non-negotiable, President Jose Raul Mulino said in a statement Monday signed alongside former leaders of the Central American country.
Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the US embassy chanting “Trump, animal, leave the canal alone” and “Get out invading gringo,” as about 20 police officers guarded the compound.
Some in the crowd carried banners reading “Donald Trump, public enemy of Panama.”
“The (Panamanian) people have shown that they are capable of recovering their territory and we are not going to give it up again,” protester Jorge Guzman told AFP.
The canal, inaugurated in 1914, was built by the United States but handed to Panama on December 31, 1999, under treaties signed some two decades earlier by then-US president Jimmy Carter and Panamanian nationalist leader Omar Torrijos.
“Panama is a sovereign territory and the canal here is Panamanian,” said Saul Mendez, the leader of a construction union that jointly organized the protest.
“Donald Trump and his imperial delusion cannot claim even a single centimeter of land in Panama,” Mendez added.
Trump on Saturday slammed what he called unfair fees for US ships passing through the Panama Canal and hinted at China’s growing influence.
If Panama could not ensure “the secure, efficient and reliable operation” of the channel, “then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question,” he said.
The status of the canal is non-negotiable, President Jose Raul Mulino said in a statement Monday signed alongside former leaders of the Central American country.
Panama leaders past and present reject Trump’s threat of Canal takeover
By AFP
December 24, 2024
The Panama Canal is owned and operated by the Central American nation, but US President-elect Donald Trump has made waves about excessive shipping fees and has threatened to demand control of the vital waterway be returned to Washington - Copyright Panama Canal Authority/AFP/File Handout
The status of the Panama Canal is non-negotiable, President Jose Raul Mulino said in a statement Monday signed alongside former leaders of the country, after Donald Trump’s recent threats to reclaim the man-made waterway.
The US president-elect on Saturday had slammed what he called unfair fees for US ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to demand control of the waterway be returned to Washington.
Mulino dismissed Trump’s comments Sunday, saying “every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent areas belongs to Panama and will continue belonging to Panama”.
He reiterated Monday in a statement — also signed by former presidents Ernesto Perez Balladares, Martin Torrijos and Mireya Moscoso — that “the sovereignty of our country and our canal are not negotiable.”
Panama took full control of the Canal in 1999 – Copyright AFP ARNULFO FRANCO
The canal “is part of our history of struggle and an irreversible conquest,” read the statement, which the four politicians had signed after a meeting at the seat of the Panamanian government.
“Panamanians may think differently in many aspects, but when it comes to our canal and our sovereignty, we all unite under the same flag.”
Former leader Laurentino Cortizo, who did not attend the meeting, also showed support for the statement on social media, as did ex-president Ricardo Martinelli.
The 80-kilometer (50-mile) Panama Canal carries five percent of the world’s maritime trade. Its main users are the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Chile.
It was completed by the United States in 1914, and then returned to the Central American country under a 1977 deal signed by Democratic president Jimmy Carter.
Panama took full control in 1999.
Five things to know about Panama Canal, in Trump’s sightsBy AFP
December 24, 2024
The Panama Canal is owned and operated by the Central American nation, but US President-elect Donald Trump has made waves about excessive shipping fees and has threatened to demand control of the vital waterway be returned to Washington - Copyright Panama Canal Authority/AFP/File Handout
The status of the Panama Canal is non-negotiable, President Jose Raul Mulino said in a statement Monday signed alongside former leaders of the country, after Donald Trump’s recent threats to reclaim the man-made waterway.
The US president-elect on Saturday had slammed what he called unfair fees for US ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to demand control of the waterway be returned to Washington.
Mulino dismissed Trump’s comments Sunday, saying “every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent areas belongs to Panama and will continue belonging to Panama”.
He reiterated Monday in a statement — also signed by former presidents Ernesto Perez Balladares, Martin Torrijos and Mireya Moscoso — that “the sovereignty of our country and our canal are not negotiable.”
Panama took full control of the Canal in 1999 – Copyright AFP ARNULFO FRANCO
The canal “is part of our history of struggle and an irreversible conquest,” read the statement, which the four politicians had signed after a meeting at the seat of the Panamanian government.
“Panamanians may think differently in many aspects, but when it comes to our canal and our sovereignty, we all unite under the same flag.”
Former leader Laurentino Cortizo, who did not attend the meeting, also showed support for the statement on social media, as did ex-president Ricardo Martinelli.
The 80-kilometer (50-mile) Panama Canal carries five percent of the world’s maritime trade. Its main users are the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Chile.
It was completed by the United States in 1914, and then returned to the Central American country under a 1977 deal signed by Democratic president Jimmy Carter.
Panama took full control in 1999.
By AFP
December 23, 2024
A cargo ship passes through the Miraflores locks on the Panama Canal - Copyright AFP/File MARTIN BERNETTI
Juan José RodrÃguez
US President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to demand control of the Panama Canal be returned to Washington, complaining of “unfair” treatment of American ships and hinting at China’s growing influence.
Here are five things to know about the waterway connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
– Panamanian operated –
The 80-kilometer (50-mile) interoceanic waterway is operated by the Panama Canal Authority, an autonomous public entity.
The Central American nation’s constitution describes the canal as an “inalienable heritage of the Panamanian nation” that is open to vessels “of all nations.”
The United States is its main user, accounting for 74 percent of cargo, followed by China with 21 percent.
Panama’s government sets the price of tolls based on canal needs and international demand. Rates depends on a vessel’s cargo capacity.
“The canal has no direct or indirect control from China, nor the European Union, nor the United States or any other power,” Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino said Sunday as he dismissed Trump’s threat.
All vessels, including warships and submarines, are given a Panama Canal pilot.
– National history –
Panama’s independence from Colombia in 1903 is linked to the canal.
Following the failure of French count Ferdinand de Lesseps to open a channel through the isthmus, the United States promoted the separation of the province of Panama and signed a treaty with the nascent country that ceded land and water in perpetuity to build it.
After 10 years of construction and an investment of $380 million, the canal was inaugurated on August 15, 1914 with the transit of the steamer Ancon.
Some 25,000 deaths from disease and accidents were recorded during its construction.
The canal “is part of our history” and “an irreversible achievement,” Mulino said.
– American enclave –
Washington’s establishment of a “Canal Zone” — an enclave with its own military bases, police and justice system — gave rise to decades of demands by Panamanians to reunify the country and take control of the waterway.
In 1977, Panamanian nationalist leader Omar Torrijos and US president Jimmy Carter signed treaties that allowed the canal to be transferred to Panama on December 31, 1999.
“Any attempt to reverse this historic achievement not only dishonors our struggle, but is also an insult to the memory of those who made it possible,” former president Martin Torrijos, the general’s son, wrote on social media.
Under the treaties, supported by more than 40 countries, the canal is deemed neutral and any ship can pass through.
The only conditions are that ships must comply with safety regulations and military vessels from countries at war must not pass through at the same time.
– System of locks –
Unlike Egypt’s Suez Canal, the Panama Canal operates using freshwater stored in two reservoirs.
A drought led to a reduction in the number of transits in 2023, but the situation has since normalized.
The canal, which has a system of locks to raise and lower vessels, transformed global shipping.
Crafts can travel between the two oceans in about eight hours without having to sail all the way around Cape Horn, the southern tip of the Americas.
The canal allows a ship to shave 20,300 kilometers off a journey from New York to San Francisco.
– Cash cow –
Five percent of world maritime trade passes through the canal, which connects more than 1,900 ports in 170 countries.
By the early 21st century, it had become too small, so it was expanded between 2009 and 2016.
Today, the canal can accommodate ships up to 366 meters long and 49 meters wide (1,200 feet by 161 feet) — equivalent to almost four football pitches.
It generates six percent of Panama’s national economic output and since 2000 has pumped more than $28 billion into state coffers.
More than 11,200 ships transited the canal in the last fiscal year carrying 423 million tons of cargo.
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