Panama president hits back at Trump over canal U.S. takeover comments
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump threatened Sunday to reassert U.S. control over the Panama Canal, accusing Panama of charging excessive rates to use the Central American passage — comments that 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.”
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.”
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In a recorded message released by Panamanian leader Mulino on Sunday afternoon, he said Panama’s independence was non-negotiable and 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 Fri, 01 Nov 2024 08:11:21 +0000
Blake Lively accuses It Ends With Us director of harassment and smear campaign
Actor Blake Lively has accused her It Ends With Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment on the set of the movie and of a subsequent effort to “destroy” her reputation in a legal complaint.
The complaint, obtained by The Associated Press, precedes a lawsuit. The New York Times reported it was filed on Friday with the California Civil Rights Department.
It names Baldoni, the studio behind It Ends With Us and Baldoni’s publicists among the defendants.
In the complaint, Lively accuses Baldoni and the studio of embarking on a “multi-tiered plan” to damage her reputation following a meeting where she and her husband Ryan Reynolds addressed “repeated sexual harassment and other disturbing behaviour” by Baldoni and a producer on the movie.
The plan, the complaint said, included a proposal to plant theories on online message boards, engineer a social media campaign and place news stories critical of Lively. The complaint also says Baldoni “abruptly pivoted away from” the movie’s marketing plan and “used domestic violence ‘survivor content’ to protect his public image.”
“These claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media,” attorney Bryan Freedman, who represents Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios and its representatives, said in a statement.
Freedman pushed back against Lively’s allegations of a co-ordinated campaign, saying the studio “proactively” hired a crisis manager “due to the multiple demands and threats made by Ms. Lively during production.” He said Lively threatened to not appear on set and not promote the film “if her demands were not met.”
Those demands were not specified in the statement.
“I hope that my legal action helps pull back the curtain on these sinister retaliatory tactics to harm people who speak up about misconduct and helps protect others who may be targeted,” Lively said in a statement to the Times.
A representative for Lively referred Associated Press to the Times report, in which Lively denied planting or spreading negative information about Baldoni or the studio.
It Ends With Us, an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2016 novel, was released in August, exceeding box office expectations with a $50-million debut.
But the movie’s release was shrouded by speculation over discord between the lead pair. Baldoni took a backseat in promoting the film while Lively took centre stage along with Reynolds, who was on the press circuit for Deadpool & Wolverine at the same time.
Baldoni, who starred in the telenovela send-up Jane the Virgin, directed Five Feet Apart and wrote Man Enough, a
book pushing back against traditional notions of masculinity, did respond to concerns that the film romanticized domestic violence, saying at the time that critics were “absolutely entitled to that opinion.”
“If anybody has had that real-life experience, I can imagine how hard it would be to imagine their experience being in a romance novel,” he said. “To them, I would just offer that we were very intentional in the making of this movie.”
Published at Sun, 22 Dec 2024 03:26:00 +0000
