Trump conquers Panama Canal in just one night

Less than a month after his inauguration, President Donald Trump successfully pressured the Panamanian government to accept White House terms and push China aside. Following a visit from Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Panama Canal has effectively come under Washington's control. In the early hours of Monday, February 3. In edition, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino announced his country's withdrawal from Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative.

Panama Signals New Relations with US After Rubio's Visit

On February 2, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Panama for an official visit. According to President Jose Mulino, the talks with Rubio were conducted in a respectful and positive manner, and no threats were made regarding the seizure of the Panama Canal. Mulino stated that the negotiations would help attract American investments to the country.

During the talks, Rubio stressed that Washington would not tolerate the status quo of the Panama Canal against the backdrop of China's growing influence in the region. Even before Rubio's visit, US officials had openly voiced concerns about China's increasing foothold. In response, the US House of Representatives proposed an initiative to purchase the Panama Canal.

On February 3, President Trump announced that the issue of the Panama Canal would be resolved without the involvement of American troops.

“China's running the Panama Canal… it was not given to China… But they violated the agreement and we're going to take it back or something very powerful is going to happen,” Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday.

Details

The Panama Canal is an artificial 82-kilometer (51-mile) waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a conduit for maritime trade between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Locks at each end lift ships up to Gatun Lake, an artificial fresh water lake 26 meters (85 ft) above sea level, created by damming the Chagres River and Lake Alajuela to reduce the amount of excavation work required for the canal. Locks then lower the ships at the other end. An average of 200 ML (52,000,000 US gal) of fresh water is used in a single passing of a ship. The canal is threatened by low water levels during droughts. The Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduces the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous route around the southernmost tip of South America via the Drake Passage, the Strait of Magellan or the Beagle Channel. Its construction was one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken. Since its inauguration on August 15, 1914, the canal has succeeded in shortening maritime communication in time and distance, invigorating maritime and economic transportation by providing a short and relatively inexpensive transit route between the two oceans, decisively influencing global trade patterns, boosting economic growth in developed and developing countries, as well as providing the basic impetus for economic expansion in many remote regions of the world.