Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino defended on Monday at the UN the “neutrality” of the Panama Canal, in a veiled message to his American counterpart Donald Trump, who has threatened to recover this intero -opening route by an alleged influence of China.
The United States and China are the two main users of the Panama Canal, which manages 5% of the world maritime trade, conferreding a vital economic and geostrategic importance.
Mulino referred to the channel during a United Nations Security Council session dedicated to international prevention, innovation and cooperation to address the challenges facing maritime security.
“It is public international law to guarantee the law on any economic or warlike asymmetry that could exist,” said the Panamanian president.
Therefore, “it is imperative for peace and true international security to preserve the neutrality of these routes as essential spaces for world trade, international cooperation and global stability,” he said.
Among the challenges for maritime security, Mulino recalled transnational organized crime, drug and weapons trafficking and counterfeit merchandise, which he said they prosper in the heat of the “limited surveillance capacity and the lack of effective cooperation between countries.”
The channel “constitutes the central pillar of the maritime infrastructure of our country, which complements with a robust port system, one of the most dynamic and efficient in the region,” he said.
But they are precisely these ports, where the presence of Chinese companies is very high, the focus of concern of the Trump government that has threatened to resume control of this interocentural route.
Inaugurated in 1914, the Panama Canal was built by the United States and delivered to Panamanians in December 1999 by virtue of bilateral treaties.
“The influence of China in the Canal Zone is not just a risk for Panama and the United States, it is a potential threat to world trade and world security,” said the United States interim representative against the UN, Dorothy Shea, who also mentioned Iran among threats.
For his part, the administrator of the Panama Canal Authority, Ricaurte Vásquez Morales, recalled that in the 25 years he has been under Panamanian administration, the channel has folded his capacity, has expanded his locks and has improved his safety.
The extension concluded in 2016 has allowed the maritime traffic to be increased by 50% by this intero -ondic route and 53% of the revenue of the channel are expected to generate this new lock, he said.
“Our channel is the demonstration that its neutrality is a fundamental contribution to world peace and the development of international trade. The safe transit of all ships in peace as war is a guarantee of world safety,” Mulino concluded.
