SUNTRACS: No gringo invader like Donald Trump can threaten Panama

𝙏𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙋𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙖 𝘾𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 “𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙” 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙐𝙎

In a speech given at “AmericaFest” in Arizona, the president-elect stated that the fees charged by Panama were unfair and if they don’t change the US would demand the canal back.

US Army M113 patrolling the streets of Panama during the 1989 invasion. Photo: US DoD
The president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, declared in a speech on Sunday, December 22, that the current management of the Panama Canal is a “complete rip-off” and “the fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, highly unfair”. If these do not come down, he threatened, “we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, quickly and without question”.

Trump was speaking at “AmericaFest” in Phoenix, Arizona, organized by the conservative non-profit Turning Point USA which promotes conservative values and politics at high schools and universities across the country. Trump also promoted the false claim that the canal was “foolishly” gifted to Panama in a show of “extraordinary generosity”.

His rewriting of history and brazen threats against Panama’s sovereignty were met with immediate condemnation by Panamanian political leaders, including pro-US and pro-business president José Raúl Mulino.

“Every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent area belong to Panama and will continue to be. The sovereignty and independence of our country are not negotiable,” Mulino said in a video message to the nation. He continued, defending Panama’s sovereignty and patrimony, “Every Panamanian…carries [the Panama Canal] in his heart, and it is part of his history of struggle and an irreversible conquest.” “It will continue to be in Panamanian hands as an inalienable patrimony of our nation and guaranteeing its use for the uninterrupted transit of ships of all nations as established by the constitution and the Treaty of Neutrality.”

Regarding Trump’s complaint about the tariffs, Mulino said “Tariffs are not a whim. They are set publicly and in open hearings considering market conditions, international competition, operating costs, and the maintenance and modernization needs of the interoceanic waterway. This is how we achieved the expansion of the canal in 2016.”

Finally, the Head of State affirmed that “Panamanians think differently in many aspects, but when it comes to our Canal and our sovereignty we all unite under a single flag: that of Panama. We are a country open to dialogue, today and always, to investments and good relations, but with the clear slogan that the homeland comes first. That, for this Panamanian president, is non-negotiable”.

𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐫𝐨𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞

In addition to calling for a blatant violation of Panama’s sovereignty, Trump’s comments also suggest a rewriting of history, wherein all of Latin America and the Caribbean and its resources belongs to the US, until the US “generously” decides otherwise.

In 1903, the Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty was signed between the Panamanian government (recently separated from Colombia) and the United States, in which the construction of the Panama Canal (an enormous engineering project) was agreed upon. For the construction of the Canal, Panama would receive military protection from the United States in case of any attempt at reunification by Colombia, 10 million dollars, and an annual rent of 250,000 dollars. For its part, the United States would receive many economic benefits and Panamanian sovereignty: concession in perpetuity of the Canal, a 10-mile-wide zone under US military control, cession of the islands of Naos, Perico, Flamenco, and Culebra.

Despite the completely submissive attitude of the then rulers, the Panamanian people questioned and fought against the surrender of their sovereignty. After several decades of independence struggles, then-presidents Omar Torrijos and Jimmy Carter agreed in 1977 to return control of Panamanian sovereignty and the Panama Canal to the Panamanians in 1999.

𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝!

In addition to the swift response of the Panamanian president, Donald Trump’s threats were met with strong rejection by Panamanian movements. The National Union of Workers of the Construction and Similar Industries (Suntracs) of Panama, one of the largest unions in the country, responded to Trump’s threats declaring: “This is our territory, our sovereignty…No gringo invader, nor any gringo with delusions of power like Donald Trump can threaten Panama, its territorial integrity, its sovereignty, and its self-determination. We, the children of the Panamanian people, will defend our nation. There are traitors, oligarchs or not, who rejoice with [Trump’s] statements of this nature, because they have always, since 1903, surrendered the homeland to the Americans and their interests…Panama and Panamanians must be respected!”

Regional heads of state also responded to Trump’s comments and expressed solidarity with Panama in the face of the threats.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrote on his X account “Until the last consequences I will stand by Panama and the defense of its sovereignty. If the new US government wants to talk business, we will talk business face to face for the benefit of our people, but dignity will never be negotiated. President Trump has made a mistake and contradicted himself.”

Petro pointed out, “If he does not want [large numbers of migrants] crossing the Darien, increasing by the millions from Panama to Mexico, he must understand that it will depend on the prosperity and freedom of our peoples. If it seems costly to pay to pass the Panama Canal into the hands of Panamanians, it will be much more costly to plunge Panama, South America, Central America, or Mexico into poverty. If they do not want us in the US, we must make all the Americas prosperous in independence, freedom, and democratic dignity.”

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum also expressed her support to Panama in her morning press conference on December 23: “Our solidarity with the President of Panama, who was very quick to say: ‘the Panama Canal belongs to the Panamanians’ and, indeed, the Panama Canal belongs to the Panamanians. So, we do show our solidarity, our support to the president of Panama, to the people of Panama.”

Sheinbaum also joined Petro in underlining a key contradiction of Trump’s attacks, who has threatened Latin American leaders to stop the flow of migrants to the United States, but continues to push for the same policies which drive people to migrate. She stated, “To the extent that the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, all countries, but particularly Latin America and the Caribbean can enjoy conditions of development, of well-being, to that extent migration will decrease. The bottom line of how to deal with migration is to address the causes that generate migration.”

The ALBA Movements platform also expressed in a communiqué its condemnation of Trump’s statements: “We stand in solidarity with the Panamanian people and their social organizations in the face of the disrespectful statements of the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, by pointing out the intention to claim a supposed ‘return’ of the Panama Canal, passing over the sovereignty of the Panamanian people and evidencing once again his vision of ‘backyard’ of our continent The mere fact of suggesting such ‘return’ not only violates international law but further promotes serious geopolitical conflicts in the region.”

𝐔𝐒 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭

The timing of Trump’s threats was notable as it came just days after the 35th anniversary of the US invasion of Panama. On December 20, 1989, President George H. W. Bush ordered 12,000 troops, in violation of the Treaty Establishing the United Nations and the Organization of American States, to enter Panamanian territory to capture the then-dictator of Panama, Manuel Noriega. Noriega was a former CIA agent and not long ago a close collaborator of the US government.

In “Operation Just Cause”, US troops completely destroyed the neighborhood El Chorrillo in Panama’s capital and displaced over 20,000 people. The city of Colón was sullied with impunity as US troops carried out numerous war crimes and violations of the human rights of civilians, and killed between 500 and 4000 people; the numbers are imprecise due to the impunity with which the invasion was subsequently treated.