Panama has politely but firmly corrected Washington. Foreign minister Javier Martínez-Acha on Wednesday rejected a claim by US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth that the two countries now run the Panama Canal together, telling local media that the waterway is operated and administered by Panama alone, through the Panama Canal Authority.
Hegseth had said Panama pushed back Chinese efforts and that the United States and Panama were now jointly in control, framing it as a sign that the hemisphere belonged to Washington. He did not spell out which Chinese efforts he had in mind or what had changed on the ground.
Martínez-Acha drew a sharp line between control and cooperation. Panama does work with the United States on security, he said, to guard critical infrastructure, keep shipping lanes safe and curb drug trafficking and organised crime. But it has similar arrangements with Britain, Japan, Spain, Colombia and South Korea, and none of them gives a foreign state a say in how the canal is managed. “No country controls the canal except ours,” he said.
The response was notable for what it left out. There will be no formal diplomatic note, the minister said, because the constitution, international law and the canal treaties already speak for Panama. He also refused to trade barbs with any foreign official, and said President José Raúl Mulino’s government has no wish to be pulled into the rivalry between great powers. In the same appearance he spoke warmly of talks on visa-free travel to the US, saying Panama already meets more than 90 percent of the targets.
The canal has become a flashpoint between Washington and Beijing, with US officials objecting to Chinese-linked port operations along its banks. China, for its part, says it supports Panama’s sovereignty and the canal’s permanent neutrality. Hegseth made his remarks while fighting an impeachment push led by Republican congressman Thomas Massie.
