US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed on Tuesday to work with Panama to “take back the Panama Canal from China’s influence.” Hegseth, the first top US military official to visit Panama in decades, held security talks with the country’s president, José Raul Mulino.
The background: The US built the canal before World War I and ceded control of it to Panama in 1999. President Donald Trump has pledged to “take it back,” citing concerns about Chinese influence on the crucial waterway, which currently handles 5% of global trade.
Earlier this year, after a Panamanian probe of Chinese influence, a deal was struck for a US-led consortium to buy two ports, located at either end of the canal, that are currently run by a Hong Kong-based company. But Beijing has balked at that, and the deal is now in legal limbo.
Meanwhile, the US has reportedly drawn up plans to increase its military presence around the canal and even to seize it by force, if necessary. This idea is deeply unpopular in Panama, where 85% of the population say the Canal should stay in local hands, according to a recent poll.
The upshot: The Trump administration is doubling down on its vision of greater American control over what it sees as a natural sphere of hemispheric influence.
For a fun look at what the Panama Canal, US foreign policy, and Bad Bunny have to do with each other, see here.