Politics
NEW: Trump, Hegseth Secure ‘Victory’ At Panama Canal Meeting
High-level talks between U.S. and Panamanian officials have led to a “reboot” of the countries’ strategic partnership centered around maritime traffic along the Panama Canal and enhanced security to prevent illegal immigration into the U.S., authorities announced Tuesday.
Talks in Panama City were convened by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and members of the Trump administration who were sent to mend fences after a public dispute with the country’s president, José Raúl Mulino, over control of the 111-year-old channel and only waterway across the Americas. Both men were joined by Panama Canal Authority Administrator Ricaurte Vásquez and reaffirmed their shared commitment to boosting joint military training, strengthening cyber and maritime defense, and streamlining military vessel passage through the Canal.
Contours of the deal include an agreement by President Mulino to pull Panama out of the Chinese Communist Party’s Belt and Road Initiative, making his country the first in the Western Hemisphere to do so. The deal is a boon to U.S. trade officials who have long feared China’s growing influence in Central and Southern America as it wages a proxy war for preferred trade routes, resources, and partnerships.
Hegseth also praised Mulino for honoring his commitment to stepped-up border enforcement, including a sealing off of the infamous Darién Gap — a jungly no-man’s-land stretching between Panama and Colombia which has served as a central artery for dangerous illegal crossings in recent years.
Those achievements came following $230 million in direct funding from the U.S. and will be built on with many more, the National Pulse reports, including:
- Warships and auxiliary vessels from both nations will be guaranteed expedited passage through the Canal under Treaty obligations;
- A new mechanism will be developed to compensate Panama for tolls and charges under the “First and Free” neutrality framework;
- A new Memorandum of Understanding will expand U.S.-Panama military collaboration at joint-use facilities;
- Regular joint jungle warfare training will resume, and the large-scale PANAMAX 2026 defense exercise will return to Panamanian soil;
- A new Joint Statement of Understanding between Minister Juan Manuel Abrego and U.S. Admiral Alvin Holsey will bolster security cooperation and professional education;
- Strategic, cyber, and maritime security planning will be enhanced with U.S. Department of Defense support;
- The U.S. Southern Command and the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) signed a new Cyber Cooperation Arrangement; and,
- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will continue providing technical support to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Canal.
Another element of the countries’ renewed partnership will be called the High-Level Security Dialogue, a channel maintained between both nations to share knowledge and best practices on maritime security, commercial shipping resilience, and military preparedness.
Earlier in the day, Hegseth won praise from Mulino and other Panamanian officials for ordering the reopening of Fort Sherman, the long-abandoned outpost that formerly served as the U.S. military’s Jungle Operations Training Center.
The announcement is another blow to Beijing, which is reeling after President Donald Trump enacted 104% tariffs on most imports to the U.S. China responded on Wednesday, raising its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports to 84%, even as experts within the communist government remain uneasy about the repercussions.
“The United States is shooting itself in the foot by tariffs, so we should not shoot ourselves in the foot as well,” He Bin, deputy director of the government-affiliated Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Center for Public Policy Research, wrote in a recent social media post that exploded in popularity before being wiped from the internet. “The correct countermeasure is to implement unilateral zero tariffs on imports from all countries.”
Then, on Sunday, the academy announced it would be terminating the center where Mr. He works.
