A secure Western Hemisphere is the ultimate goal of the Central American Security Conference, to be held this year in Panama. But in everyone’s minds, lurks the recent statements by US President Donald J. Trump regarding the canal, one of the world’s most vital shipping lanes.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will travel next week to participate in the conference.
While Trump has expressed many times his interest in the Panama Canal, there are currently no specifics about how he would go about doing so, or if military action might be required.
Reuters reported:
“Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said Hegseth would hold bilateral meetings at the conference ‘that will drive ongoing efforts to strengthen our partnerships with Panama and other Central American nations toward our shared vision for a peaceful and secure Western Hemisphere’.”
Associated Press reported:
“President Donald Trump has complained about the U.S. relinquishing control of the waterway to Panama more than 20 years ago and has threatened to retake it, arguing that the U.S. was being overcharged for using it. Panama’s government has denied Trump’s assertion that China exerts influence over the canal.”
Pentagon spokesman Parnell did not mention the canal, but that’ all everyone is thinking about.
The US ceded control over to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999, under what Trump termed a ‘foolish’ treaty signed in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter.
“After Trump’s threats, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate has agreed to sell its controlling stake in a subsidiary that operates ports near the Panama Canal to a consortium including BlackRock Inc., effectively putting the ports under American control.
The deal will give the U.S. investment management company BlackRock Inc. control over 43 ports in 23 countries, including the ports of Balboa and Cristobal, located at either end of the Panama Canal. Other ports are in Mexico, the Netherlands, Egypt, Australia, Pakistan and elsewhere.”
Read more:
The post Defense Secretary Hegseth To Visit Panama Next Week for Central American Security Conference, Under the Shadow of Trump’s Vow to Regain Control of the Canal appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.