Washington, United States:
The United States said Wednesday that their government ships could sail for free through the Panama Canal, after a strong pressure from President Donald Trump.
“The United States government ships can now travel the Panama channel without charges, saving the United States Government millions of dollars a year,” said the State Department in a publication on the Social Network Platform X .
It was the first public announcement of promises hinted at by the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who said that Panama offered concessions during his conversations on Sunday.
Rubio said that he had told Panama that it was unfair that the United States were in a position to defend the vital route and also be charged for its use.
Since he won the American elections of November, Trump has refused to rule out the use of force to seize the channel, through which 40 percent of US container traffic passes. Trump and Rubio have complained about Chinese investment, including ports on both sides of the channel, and warned that Beijing could close the river route to the United States in a crisis.
Panama has strongly denied Trump’s repeated accusations that China has received a role in the operation of the channel.
But it has also moved to address the concerns of the United States. President José Raúl Mulino after his conversations with Rubio said that Panama would not renew the membership in the Belt and Road initiative, the Beijing infrastructure construction program.
Rubio told journalists on Monday that his conversations with Mulino were “respectful” and that the visit was going to achieve potentially good things to calculate the concerns we have. “
Trump, however, said he was still “not happy”, although he acknowledged that Panama had “accepted certain things.”
The United States and Panama are scheduled to make new conversations on Friday to discuss the channel.
Trump in his inaugural speech
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