The President of the Republic, José Raúl Mulino, reiterated this Thursday that his administration is willing to talk and reach agreements with the next United States government on issues of common interest, but that there is no possibility of negotiating the status of the Panama Canal. .
Since its reversal, on December 31, 1999, the Interoceanic Canal, under 100% Panamanian administration, has been increasing its productivity and profitability year after year, to the point that in 2024 it made contributions of B/.2,470 to the National Treasury, to despite having faced a drought in 2023 due to the El Niño meteorological phenomenon.
The funds help the national population, since they are intended to cover most of the B/.3,383 million that the State grants in subsidies, President Mulino stressed at a press conference.
Apart from being Panama’s most important asset, the Panama Canal has also been highly effective in facilitating international trade, particularly for its main user, the United States.
«At the end of 2024, 52% of Canal transits registered ports with origin or destination in the United States of America, and more than 76% of the cargo that transited through the Canal had its origin or destination in the United States of America. America. More than three quarters of that cargo used the Neopanamax locks,” explained the president.
«Since 1914, the toll paid by warships of any nation, including the United States, is calculated based on tons of water displacement, as everyone pays. There is no discrimination against any warship, neither from the United States nor from any other country,” he clarified.
Likewise, he stated that there is no discrimination towards foreign investment from any country on Isthmus soil, and that – in fact – more North American companies should bid in Panama.
Foreign military presence in the Canal is ruled out
«There are no Chinese soldiers in the Channel. As simple as that,” highlighted the president.
“They may be geopolitical fears that may be valid from their (the incoming United States government’s) perspective, but as far as Panama is concerned, they have no truth,” he indicated.
“The Panama Canal belongs to Panama, to the Panamanians, after a generational struggle that began from the same day the Hay-Bunau Varilla treaty was signed,” said the president.
Regarding bilateral relations with China, the president expressed that they are “respectful” and based on commercial exchange, just like other countries in the world do, including the United States. “Is what is good for the world bad for Panama?” Mulino questioned.
The Panamanian Government will wait for the new president of the United States, Donald Trump, to take office on January 20, to begin talks on issues of shared interest. However, the Canal issue is not on the agenda.
«There is no possibility, for this president, of speaking anything that seeks to rethink the legal-political reality of the Canal in Panamanian hands. If the intention to talk comes from there, there is nothing to talk about,” he pointed out.
Will not increase light
«Today we have confirmed with the ASEP that, although electricity rates should be updated in January, electricity companies, before raising the rate to the user, must improve the service. Therefore, there will be no increase in January,” the president announced.
New inspectors to verify ITBMS payment
Another announcement made by the president was the materialization of an agreement between the General Directorate of Revenue (DGI) and the Authority for Consumer Protection and Defense of Competition (ACODECO), in which the latter institution will make 70 inspectors available to Help verify the issuance of tax invoices, and verify the collection of the 7% consumption tax.
“With this we will be covering the country with relative comfort,” said Mulino.
Section of the Inter-American highway will be rehabilitated
In January, the bidding process for the rehabilitation works of the Inter-American Highway should begin, specifically in the section between La Chorrera and Santiago de Veraguas, the President of the Republic announced.
«It is to rebuild it. Not to repatch, it is to make it new again. It is an urgent need, which is going to be done, accordingly,” he clarified.
On the other hand, he announced that in January a conservation plan for the infrastructure of the Donoso copper mine will begin, whose operations were paralyzed by a ruling by the Supreme Court of Justice. This plan is to prevent the minerals and other inputs deposited in the mine from becoming a danger to the environment.
