Panama submitted a formal letter to U.N. Secretary General António Guterres and the U.N. Security Council on Monday, rejecting comments that President Trump made about reclaiming the Panama Canal during his inauguration speech.
“We didn’t give it to China,” Mr. Trump said after being sworn in. “We gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back.”
The letter, dated Jan. 20 and seen by The New York Times, attached a statement by President José Raúl Mulino of Panama saying that on behalf of his country and people, “I must reject in its entirety the words expressed by President Donald Trump regarding Panama and its Canal in his inaugural address.”
Mr. Mulino said, “the canal is and will continue to be Panama’s.”
The letter cited two articles of the U.N. charter that prohibit member states from using threats and force against “the territorial integrity or political independence,” calling such actions inconsistent with the purpose of the United Nations, and suggesting that Mr. Trump’s statements violated the U.N. charter.
Panama did not ask for the Security Council to convene a meeting about the issue, but diplomats said that if tensions between the United States and Panama persist, then it was possible that the Council could schedule a meeting.
The United States is among the five permanent veto-holding members of the council.
Starting late last year, Mr. Trump has repeatedly taken aim at Panama, falsely claiming that Panama has ceded control of the canal to China and that the United States must reclaim the strategic passageway.
Those claims have been rebuffed several times by President Mulino, who said, after Mr. Trump brought up the canal in a speech in late December, that “every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent zones is part of Panama, and it will continue to be.”
He added at the time: “Our country’s sovereignty and independence are not negotiable.”
The canal was constructed by the United States in the early 20th century, but after lengthy negotiations in the late 1970s, the United States agreed to hand over full control to Panama in 1999. Since then, Panama has overseen the waterway through its Panama Canal Authority, which completed an expansion of the canal in 2016 to accommodate larger cargo ships.
Mr. Trump has not backed off his claims. This month, in a long speech he gave at Mar-a-Lago, his estate in Florida, he refused to rule out using military force to retake the canal. “It might be that you’ll have to do something,” Mr. Trump said.
The statement unnerved Panamanians, many of whom remember not only an era when the United States controlled the canal and the surrounding territory, known as the Canal Zone, but also recall when the U.S. military invaded Panama in 1989 to depose the autocratic regime of Manuel Noriega.
“That was not an invasion to colonize or take territory,” said Raúl Arias de Para, an ecotourism entrepreneur and descendant of one of Panama’s founders. “It liberated us from a formidable dictatorship.”
On Monday, Mr. Mulino swiftly released a statement rebuking the incoming U.S. president for his rhetoric.
“Dialogue is always the way to clarify the points mentioned without undermining our right, total sovereignty and ownership of our Canal,” Mr. Mulino said in his statement, which was posted on X on Monday afternoon.
However, later on Monday, the Panamanian comptroller’s office announced that auditors had visited the county’s maritime authorities to initiate an audit of Panama Ports Company, a Hutchison Ports Holding subsidiary. The company is a major port operator and the country’s main port concessionaire. It is also part of CK Hutchison Holdings, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate.
“The purpose of this exhaustive audit is to ensure the efficient and transparent use of public resources,” the comptroller’s office said.
Mr. Trump’s comments during his inaugural speech seemed to signal an escalation in tensions with Mr. Mulino, who since taking office last year has consistently signaled his willingness to help the United States restrict migration toward the U.S. border.
At the Darién Gap, the number of migrants fell sharply over the last year, after Panama introduced tougher restrictions to complement the Biden administration’s new asylum policies. In August 2023, a record 80,000 migrants passed through the Darién Gap in a single month. In December, Panamanian officials reported that just under 5,000 people went through.
“We didn’t give it to China,” Mr. Trump said after being sworn in. “We gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back.”
The letter, dated Jan. 20 and seen by The New York Times, attached a statement by President José Raúl Mulino of Panama saying that on behalf of his country and people, “I must reject in its entirety the words expressed by President Donald Trump regarding Panama and its Canal in his inaugural address.”
Mr. Mulino said, “the canal is and will continue to be Panama’s.”
The letter cited two articles of the U.N. charter that prohibit member states from using threats and force against “the territorial integrity or political independence,” calling such actions inconsistent with the purpose of the United Nations, and suggesting that Mr. Trump’s statements violated the U.N. charter.
Panama did not ask for the Security Council to convene a meeting about the issue, but diplomats said that if tensions between the United States and Panama persist, then it was possible that the Council could schedule a meeting.
The United States is among the five permanent veto-holding members of the council.
Starting late last year, Mr. Trump has repeatedly taken aim at Panama, falsely claiming that Panama has ceded control of the canal to China and that the United States must reclaim the strategic passageway.
Those claims have been rebuffed several times by President Mulino, who said, after Mr. Trump brought up the canal in a speech in late December, that “every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent zones is part of Panama, and it will continue to be.”
He added at the time: “Our country’s sovereignty and independence are not negotiable.”
The canal was constructed by the United States in the early 20th century, but after lengthy negotiations in the late 1970s, the United States agreed to hand over full control to Panama in 1999. Since then, Panama has overseen the waterway through its Panama Canal Authority, which completed an expansion of the canal in 2016 to accommodate larger cargo ships.
Mr. Trump has not backed off his claims. This month, in a long speech he gave at Mar-a-Lago, his estate in Florida, he refused to rule out using military force to retake the canal. “It might be that you’ll have to do something,” Mr. Trump said.
The statement unnerved Panamanians, many of whom remember not only an era when the United States controlled the canal and the surrounding territory, known as the Canal Zone, but also recall when the U.S. military invaded Panama in 1989 to depose the autocratic regime of Manuel Noriega.
“That was not an invasion to colonize or take territory,” said Raúl Arias de Para, an ecotourism entrepreneur and descendant of one of Panama’s founders. “It liberated us from a formidable dictatorship.”
On Monday, Mr. Mulino swiftly released a statement rebuking the incoming U.S. president for his rhetoric.
“Dialogue is always the way to clarify the points mentioned without undermining our right, total sovereignty and ownership of our Canal,” Mr. Mulino said in his statement, which was posted on X on Monday afternoon.
However, later on Monday, the Panamanian comptroller’s office announced that auditors had visited the county’s maritime authorities to initiate an audit of Panama Ports Company, a Hutchison Ports Holding subsidiary. The company is a major port operator and the country’s main port concessionaire. It is also part of CK Hutchison Holdings, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate.
“The purpose of this exhaustive audit is to ensure the efficient and transparent use of public resources,” the comptroller’s office said.
Mr. Trump’s comments during his inaugural speech seemed to signal an escalation in tensions with Mr. Mulino, who since taking office last year has consistently signaled his willingness to help the United States restrict migration toward the U.S. border.
At the Darién Gap, the number of migrants fell sharply over the last year, after Panama introduced tougher restrictions to complement the Biden administration’s new asylum policies. In August 2023, a record 80,000 migrants passed through the Darién Gap in a single month. In December, Panamanian officials reported that just under 5,000 people went through.
