Panama president hits back at Trump over canal U.S. takeover comments
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump threatened on Sunday to reassert U.S. control over the Panama Canal, accusing Panama of charging excessive rates to use the Central American passage. The comments drew a sharp rebuke from Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino.
Speaking to a crowd of supporters in Arizona on Sunday, Trump also said he would not let the canal fall into the “wrong hands,” warning of potential Chinese influence on the passage.
China does not control or administer the canal, but a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings has long managed two ports located on the Caribbean and Pacific entrances to the canal.
The president-elect’s comments came hours after he levelled a similar threat against Panama in a post on Truth Social on Saturday night.
“Has anyone ever heard of the Panama Canal?” Trump said on Sunday at AmericaFest, an annual event organized by Turning Point, an allied conservative group. “Because we’re being ripped off at the Panama Canal like we’re being ripped off everywhere else.”
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Trump’s comments were an exceedingly rare example of a U.S. leader saying he could push a sovereign country to hand over territory. It also underlines an expected shift in U.S. diplomacy under Trump, who has not historically shied away from threatening allies and using bellicose rhetoric when dealing with counterparts.
“The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, highly unfair,” Trump said.
“It was given to Panama and the people of Panama, but it has provisions. You get to treat us fairly, and they haven’t treated us fairly.
“If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, quickly and without question.”
In a recorded message released by Panamanian leader Mulino on Sunday afternoon, he said that Panama’s independence was non-negotiable and that China had no influence on the canal’s administration. He also defended the passage rates Panama charged, saying they were not set “on a whim.”
“Every square meter of the Panama Canal and the surrounding area belongs to Panama and will continue belonging [to Panama],” Mulino said in the statement, which was released on X, formerly Twitter.
Several other Panamanian politicians, including members of the opposition, also took to social media to criticize Trump’s statements.
The United States largely built the canal and administered territory surrounding the passage for decades. But the U.S. and Panama signed a pair of accords in 1977 that paved the way for the canal’s return to full Panamanian control. The U.S. handed over control of the passage in 1999 after a period of joint administration.
The waterway, which allows up to 14,000 ships to cross per year, accounts for 2.5 per cent of global seaborne trade and is critical to U.S. imports of autos and commercial goods by container ships from Asia, and for U.S. exports of commodities, including liquefied natural gas.
It is not clear how Trump would seek to regain control over the canal, and he would have no recourse under international law if he decided to make a play for the passage.
This is not the first time Trump has openly considered territorial expansion.
In recent weeks, he has repeatedly mused about turning Canada into a U.S. state, though it is unclear how serious he is about the matter. During his first term, Trump expressed interest in buying Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark. He was publicly rebuffed by Danish authorities before any conversations could take place.
Published at Sun, 22 Dec 2024 21:42:07 +0000
German Christmas market attack suspect held on murder charges
A man suspected of driving a car into a German Christmas market in an attack that killed at least five people and injured scores of others faces charges of murder and attempted murder, police said on Sunday, after the man was remanded in custody.
Police in the central city of Magdeburg, where the attack happened on Friday, also reported scuffles at a far-right demonstration attended by around 2,100 people on Saturday night, while other residents took part in sombre remembrance events.
The suspect is a 50-year-old man from Saudi Arabia who has lived in Germany for almost two decades.
A magistrate ordered the man into pre-trial custody after prosecutors pressed charges of murder on five counts, multiple counts of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm, according to a police statement.
It identified the dead as a nine-year-old boy and four adult women, aged 52, 45, 75 and 67.
German authorities have not named the suspect, who has permanent resident status in Germany, and local media reports do not give his full name in keeping with local privacy law. International media, including BBC News and the Guardian, however, are identifying the accused as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen.
The suspect’s X account describes him as a former Muslim. It is filled with tweets and retweets focusing on anti-Islam themes and criticism of the religion, while sharing congratulatory notes to Muslims who left the faith. He was critical of German authorities, saying they had failed to do enough to combat the “Islamification of Europe.” He has also voiced support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Police reported scuffles at a protest attended by around 2,100 people on Saturday night, one day after the attack. Right-wingers had billed the gathering on messaging app Telegram as a “demonstration against terror.”
Protesters wearing black balaclavas could be seen holding a large banner with the word “remigration,” a term popular with far-right supporters seeking the mass deportation of migrants and people deemed not ethnically German.
The motive in Friday night’s attack remains unclear.
Published at Sun, 22 Dec 2024 13:40:56 +0000
