Panama Canal, Marco Rubio travels to a region in Trump's sights

Marco Rubio, the first US Secretary of State of Latin American origin, is embarking on a tour of Central America and the Caribbean on February 1, at a time of high tension following the pronouncements of the new president Donald Trump. Migration, mass deportations and even the threat of regaining control of the Panama Canal are on Washington's agenda and mark the challenges that Rubio will have to address, while the US tries to counteract the already extensive Chinese influence in the region. 

The US State Department confirmed on Friday that Marco Rubio, recently appointed as the highest representative of US diplomacy, will embark on his first tour in office from February 1 to 6. His first focus? Latin America.

His trip to Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic will take place after US President Donald Trump set off alarm bells throughout the region after his first days back in the White House.

Trump was quick to make good on his campaign promises regarding a tough immigration policy, with mass deportations of migrants who were undocumented on US soil and the cancellation of the extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) - a program that offered protection to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in migratory transit.

At the same time, Rubio's trip is preceded by the Trump Administration's renewed interest in the Panama Canal and, in particular, by China's influence in the region.

Below we review the main fronts that will define the agenda of this six-day diplomatic itinerary. 

China's influence in the region and control of the Panama Canal

Rubio's first stop will be Panama. On Thursday, January 30, two days before embarking on his first tour as Secretary of State, Rubio said that "in four years (...) Our interest in the Panama Canal will be more secure."

It is no coincidence that this Central American country is the official's first destination.

Donald Trump has threatened to take control of the Canal, arguing that it is being operated by China, something that the Panamanian government has already flatly denied.

At the same time, the American president, without proof, has assured that Beijing has soldiers at the river crossing, in parallel with his claims that the United States is being overcharged for transit through this strategic passage.

"I cannot negotiate, much less open a negotiation process on the canal"

“They are all over Panama,” Rubio told SiriusXM, referring to Chinese companies in the country.

 

In that sense, Chinese investments in ports and other infrastructure in the Pacific and the Caribbean are a cause for concern for Washington, which, according to Rubio, leave Panama and the Canal vulnerable to Beijing.

However, the Panamanian president, José Raúl Mulino, has already ruled out discussing the control of the maritime crossing during the visit of the American official. "I cannot negotiate and much less open a negotiation process on the canal," stressed Mulino.

"That is closed. The canal belongs to Panama," stressed the Panamanian president.

But Rubio has indicated that this highly frictional issue will be on the table. "We are going to address that issue (...) The president has been quite clear that he wants to manage the canal again. Obviously, the Panamanians are not very supportive of that idea. That message has been made very clear," said the new head of American diplomacy.

The Canal is an 82-kilometer artificial waterway connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, key to global trade flows and operated by the Panama Canal Authority - an autonomous agency overseen by the Panamanian government.

Although the United States built the maritime crossing at the beginning of the 20th century, it handed over control to Panama in 1999, twenty years after signing an agreement guaranteeing its permanent natural status.

Thus, despite the fact that the river crossing is under the control of the Panamanian government, two ports at its Atlantic and Pacific entrances are operated by the Hong Kong company CK Hutchinson 0001.HK, something that increasingly worries Washington.