https://sputnikglobe.com/20250410/us-panama-pact-what-impact-will-it-have-on-trade-and-regional-geopolitics-1121855248.html
US-Panama Pact: What Impact Will It Have on Trade and Regional Geopolitics?
US-Panama Pact: What Impact Will It Have on Trade and Regional Geopolitics?
Sputnik International
DoD chief Hegseth and Panama’s minister for canal affairs have signed a declaration affirming US recognition of Panamanian sovereignty over the waterway and a joint commitment to a new cost-sharing model to compensate Panama for the passage of US warships.
2025-04-10T18:33+0000
2025-04-10T18:33+0000
2025-04-10T18:34+0000
analysis
peter hegseth
us
china
panama
blackrock
panama canal
trade
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The pact, characterized as the first step to a broader framework to provide US warships “first and free” passage, and possibly “revive” US bases in Panama, signals Washington’s plans to militarize the region.Curbing ChinaDuring his Panama visit, Hegseth openly identified China as the main target of US Panama strategy, vowing to “take back” the canal “from China’s influence,” and accusing the Asian nation of trying to “weaponize” it. Fact-check: China has never even sailed a warship through the waterway.China’s Embassy in Panama dismissed the “China threat” narrative as a flagrant attempt to disguise Washington’s own geopolitical ambitions.Potential Prelude to US Aggression?A successful US encroachment on the canal zone could have dire implications for China, which uses the waterway as its main gateway for exports to Latin America, and to import food, raw materials and energy from the region.China recently blocked a $23B Trump-approved BlackRock plan to buy two major Panama Canal ports owned by a Hong Kong holding company. US militarization of Panama would allow Washington to take over port assets by force in a crisis, citing “national security.”Other ObjectivesHeightened US military presence in Panama will impact other countries, including Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua – long targeted by US economic warfare and regime change attempts.Militarization of the region would give the US opportunities for gunboat diplomacy, surveillance or even military interventions across the region using the combined resources of American naval power in the Atlantic and Pacific.
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why is the us militarizing the panama canal, is the us militarizing the panama canal, does china threaten the panama canal, is china weaponizing the panama canal, how is china weaponizing the panama canal
why is the us militarizing the panama canal, is the us militarizing the panama canal, does china threaten the panama canal, is china weaponizing the panama canal, how is china weaponizing the panama canal
US-Panama Pact: What Impact Will It Have on Trade and Regional Geopolitics?
18:33 GMT 10.04.2025 (Updated: 18:34 GMT 10.04.2025) DoD chief Hegseth and Panama’s minister for canal affairs have signed a declaration affirming US recognition of Panamanian sovereignty over the waterway and a joint commitment to a new cost-sharing model to compensate Panama for the passage of US warships.
The pact, characterized as the first step to a broader framework to provide US warships
“first and free” passage, and possibly “revive” US bases in Panama, signals Washington’s plans to militarize the region.
During his Panama visit, Hegseth openly identified China as the main target of US Panama strategy, vowing to “take back” the canal “from China’s influence,” and
accusing the Asian nation of trying to “weaponize” it. Fact-check: China has never even sailed a warship through the waterway.
China’s Embassy in Panama dismissed the “China threat” narrative as a flagrant attempt to disguise Washington’s own geopolitical ambitions.
Potential Prelude to US Aggression?
A successful US encroachment on the canal zone could have dire implications for China, which uses the waterway as its main gateway for exports to Latin America, and to import food, raw materials and energy from the region.
China recently
blocked a $23B Trump-approved BlackRock plan to buy two major Panama Canal ports owned by a Hong Kong holding company. US militarization of Panama would allow Washington to take over port assets by force in a crisis, citing
“national security.”Heightened US military presence in Panama will impact other countries, including Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua – long targeted by US economic warfare and regime change attempts.
Militarization of the region would give the US opportunities for gunboat diplomacy, surveillance or even military interventions across the region using the combined resources of American naval power in the Atlantic and Pacific.
