By Peter M. Tase, AzerNEWS
With President Donald J. Trump at the White House, the golden
age of America has begun. Global Security Governance will be
extremely enhanced under President Trump’s America First Strategy.
In the Americas, the revival of the Monroe Doctrine under the
magnificent leadership of President Trump, will generate a cautious
reliance of Latin American nations towards other economies across
the Pacific. As the world is moving from the Industrial to the
Intelligence age, the United Nations continues to be an obsolete
and highly corrupt organization; it suffers from the very endemic
syndrome of corruption demonstrated by the USAID and its
incompetent bureaucrats operating within its rotten administrative
capillaries. The dismantling of USAID offices at home and abroad by
the Trump–Vance administration is historic, will save billions of
U. S. Dollars for American taxpayers, and uphold the U. S. National
Security Interests on the International Stage. President Trump has
emerged as the best U. S. Head of State since the early days of
President Abraham Lincoln. Guided by the legendary conservative
principles, shaped under the leadership of President Ronald Wilson
Reagan; the current White House will also, and legitimately so,
take control of the Panama Canal that was built under the
leadership of President Theodore Roosevelt who oversaw the
realization of a long-term objective of the United States —a
trans-isthmian canal. For American and British entrepreneurs and
governments it was imperative to ship goods efficiently and quickly
between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts during the 19th
Century. Panama Canal continues to be the principal engineering
marvel in the Americas and Washington has the legitimate right to
exert full operational control and ensure its safety by employing
all tools of statecraft and military technology as well as
tactics.
It is disturbing to hear how a renowned Latin American
businessman Ricardo B. Salinas Pliego (founder and President of
Mexico’s Grupo Salinas) is giving a talk at the World
Government Summit 2025 in Dubai calling “North Americans stupid”.
The United States is blessed to be governed by the Trump – Vance
Administration which is highly committed to restoring America’s
privileged position on the world stage so that foreign
entrepreneurs including Salinas would not dare to scoff at
Americans again.
In this context, the Panama Canal has been the principal source
of wealth and income for all Panamanians and it remains a vital
logistical corridor for global shipping for more than a century
after its construction. It is the lifeblood of the Panamanian
economy, generating US$5 billion in the last fiscal year. However,
previous administrators of the Canal, Ricardo Martinelli (Former
Panamanian President) and former President Juan Carlos
Varela, are both under investigation for corruption and money
laundering, at home and abroad. It is evident that both former top
officials of the Central American nation have massively abused the
Canal’s impressive revenues and financial resources.
The posture of the White House with regards to the Panama Canal
will bring high levels of accountability, and regional security
measures that were never seen before as well as reduce fraud and
waste within the canal’s operations.
The United States established diplomatic relations with Panama
in 1903 following its declaration of independence from Colombia.
Panama’s location and role in international trade make it an
indispensable actor that ensures U.S. prosperity and national
security. Panama’s location in Central America has made the nation
to become a major land and sea transit route where illegal drugs
destined for the United States can be stopped and destroyed. While
Panama’s economic growth rate is among the highest in the
hemisphere, the country faces the challenge of making this growth
more inclusive; and the willingness of Washington to take full
control of the Canal, will generate more resources and further
increase the microeconomic levels within the Panamanian
society.
On February 2nd, 2025, U. S. Secretary of State Marco
Rubio met with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino and Minister
of Foreign Affairs Javier Martínez-Acha in Panama City at the
Palacio de Las Garzas. U. S. foreign policy chief
addressed critical regional and global challenges.
In his latest visit to Panama City, Secretary Marco Rubio stated
in a press conference: “Panama is a country that is a friend, a
brother, that we have many ties with and a great deal of
cooperation. What’s happened in this hemisphere with mass migration
is quite unfortunate. It’s a tragedy, and we have people who – as
part of this process – in many cases, people are victims or have
been victimized through this irregular path that has created issues
for many countries in the region. We also understand from the
United States that most people who come in here have as a goal
eventually making it to the United States, so you could say that at
a certain point, our border doesn’t begin at Texas or Mexico; it
begins a lot farther down.”
Secretary Rubio underscored the desire for an improved
U.S.–Panama investment climate and brought to the attention of
President Mulino that the current “position of influence and
control of the Chinese Communist Party over the Panama Canal area
is a threat to the canal and represents a violation of the Treaty
Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and Operation of the Panama
Canal.”
Secretary Rubio made it clear that this status quo is
unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require
the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights
under the
Treaty.
Furthermore, the U. S. – Panama cooperation program that helps
to stop people with criminal histories, from going forward and
creating problems in Panama, has been working well. In the same
vein, Panama and its government must take decisive actions, and be
fully transparent, towards ensuring the fulfillment of the two
bilateral treaties that it signed with the United States.
As the Carter administration shaped the public opinion in favor
of turning in the Canal to Panama’s leadership; Washington would
soon find out that this mega project would favor illicit enrichment
for only a few local politicians as the rest of the population
continues to live in misery. A very similar approach to USAID
projects in Latin America and Africa, where corrupt government
officials extract all foreign donations and drain the public
coffers. These negotiations in the 1970s were endorsed by Actor
John Wayne and Torrijos hosted U.S. Senators in Panama, where he
stressed that he was neither an enemy of the United States nor a
communist.
The negotiators in Washington decided that their best chance for
ratification was to submit two treaties to the U.S. Senate. The
first, called The Treaty Concerning the Permanent Neutrality and
Operation of the Panama Canal, or the Neutrality Treaty, stated
that the United States could use its military to defend the Panama
Canal against any threat to its neutrality, thus allowing perpetual
U.S. usage of the Canal. The second, called The Panama Canal
Treaty, stated that the Panama Canal Zone would cease to exist on
October 1, 1979, and the Canal itself would be turned over to the
Panamanians on December 31, 1999. These two treaties were signed on
September 7, 1977.
Just as the fruitful cooperation on successfully tackling
illegal immigration, Panama is obliged to respect the Treaty and
invite Washington to take control of the Canal; a move that would
greatly benefit its people and ensure greater economic growth and
stability for all Panamanians and the Central
American region overall.
Panama’s Canal administration deserves greater scrutiny by
Washington, being a major global trade hub that has not fared well
within the latest geostrategic hurdles. Nevertheless, the Trump –
Vance Administration has the unbridled courage, brilliant
statecraft, competency, intrepidity, and steady determination to
bring the administration of the Canal back on track and ensure all
massive revenues that it generates do not leave the hemisphere. The
Panama Canal is an enduring investment – built completely with the
money and labor force of the United States of America – for the
bright future of U. S. National Security, and Washington’s
geopolitical interests and is the fulcrum of Central America’s
economic prosperity.
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Publish date : 2025-02-15 02:11:00
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