Rubio’s mission came as Trump imposed steep tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China -- another step showing a far more aggressive US foreign policy.
Trump has refused to rule out military force to seize the Panama Canal, which the United States handed over at the end of 1999, saying that China has exerted too much control through its investment in surrounding ports.
“They’ve already offered to do many things,“ Trump said of Panama, “but we think it’s appropriate that we take it back.”
“Marco Rubio is going over to talk to the gentleman that’s in charge,“ Trump told reporters.
Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino, generally considered an ally of the United States, has ruled out opening negotiations after complaining to the United Nations about Trump’s threat.
The issue “is sealed. The canal is Panama’s,“ Mulino said.
What does ‘taking it back’ mean?
Amid the upheaval, which has seen swaths of humanitarian funding frozen, USAID’s websites were down over the weekend, with Democratic Senator Chris Murphy criticizing the “total destruction” of the agency.
In Panama, it remains to be seen how Rubio carries out Trump’s threat. Some experts believe that Trump was simply applying pressure and could declare a win by the United States ramping up investment in the canal -- an outcome that most Panamanians would welcome.
“I think the president’s been pretty clear he wants to administer the canal again. Obviously, the Panamanians are not big fans of that idea,“ Rubio told SiriusXM radio in an interview before the trip.
“We cannot allow any foreign power -- particularly China -- to hold that kind of potential control over it that they do. That just can’t continue,“ Rubio said.
Trump administration officials said they were blaming not Mulino but previous Panamanian president Juan Carlos Varela, who in 2017 -- during Trump’s first term as president -- moved to sever ties with Taiwan in favor of China.
Mauricio Claver-Carone, the US special envoy on Latin America, charged that Panama unfairly raised costs for US ships while also seeking assistance from the United States for canal upkeep. Panama attributes rising costs to the effects of a drought, exacerbated by climate change.
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