When asked about Panama’s sovereignty on the channel, the Pentagon leader said “The Panama Canal is found in Panama, and it is important to protect Panama’s sovereignty from malicious influence.”
The head of the Pentagon Pit Hegset proposed to recreate American troops in Panama to ensure the security of the Panama Canal. He made such an offer during a visit to Panama, France24 reported on Wednesday, April 9.
According to the hegset, the United States can “restore” military or Navy’s airbases to invitation and place troops near the channel.
However, the Minister of Defense of Panama Frank Abrego is determined to refuse this proposal.
“Panama clearly made it clear by the President (Jose Raul) that we could not accept any military or defensive structures,” Abreigo said at a joint press conference with the leader of the Pentagon.
Prior to that, Hegset emphasized the United States’s tough position about the Chinese influence on Panama.
“We don’t want a war in China,” he said. “But together we must prevent a war, determined to control Chinese threats to this hemisphere.”
In response to the journalist’s question about whether the United States recognized Panama’s sovereignty on the channel, Hegset replied: “The Panama Canal is found in Panama, and it is important to protect Panama’s sovereignty from malicious influence.”
Currently, both governments are working on an agreement that will provide us with warships with free and priority passing through the Canal Canal. According to the minister for channel channel Jose Ramon Ikasy, the United States pays off the lost charges, for example, at the expense of security services.
“We will find an appropriate mechanism,” Ikas said. At the same time, the current agreement forbids Panama to grant special rights to individual countries to go through the strategic water artery between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
As you know, Donald Trump in December 2024 threatened Panama to choose the Panama channel if the country did not stop removing excess, in his opinion, fee. Subsequently, the Panama leader said the Panama channel was more among his country. Later, the media reported that the Donald Trump administration officially ordered the Pentagon to develop “reliable military options” to ensure that access to the US was not hurting the Panama canal.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.