Panama City — Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino on Thursday denied the U.S. State Department’s claim that his country had reached a deal to allow U.S. warships to transit the Panama Canal for free. Mulino said he had told U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Wednesday that he could neither set the fees to transit the canal nor exempt anyone …
Read More »Marco Rubio Tells Panama’s Leader ‘Immediate Changes’ Are Needed
Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared to escalate the Trump administration’s confrontation with Panama on Sunday, telling its leader that President Trump had determined that Chinese “influence and control” over the Panama Canal threatens the waterway and demanding “immediate changes,” according to the State Department. Panama’s president, José Raúl Mulino, provided a different account of the discussion, saying after the …
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