by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Following a visit by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the weekend, Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino announced his intention to terminate major trade and development pact with China and stated he is interested in American investment in Panamanian infrastructure instead, the New York Post reports.
After meeting with Rubio during the Secretary of State’s first official trip abroad, Mulino told reporters that Panama will allow its 2017 trade and development pact involving China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” to expire, the Post reports.
Mulino’s announcement follows recent threats by US President Trump to seize control of the Panama Canal, claiming “American ships are being severely overcharged” and accusing China of “operating” the waterway, the Post notes.
“Secretary Rubio informed President Mulino and [Foreign] Minister [Javier] Martínez-Acha that President Trump has made a preliminary determination 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,” a State Department readout of the Rubio meeting says.
“Secretary Rubio made 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,” the readout states.
In any event, Mulino added that the Canal remains under sovereign Panamanian control, the Post reports.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear Cambridge Christian School v. Florida High School Athletic Association, effectively letting stand a lower-court ruling that bars two Christian schools from offering a brief pre-game prayer over a stadium loudspeaker — even though both teams wanted the prayer and the event was between two private Christian schools.
President Donald Trump confirmed Monday that the United States will move forward with selling advanced F-35 stealth fighters to Saudi Arabia, announcing the decision just one day before Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrives at the White House for a high-profile visit aimed at deepening economic, technological, and defense cooperation.
The UN Security Council voted 13-0 on Monday to adopt a sweeping U.S.-drafted resolution that codifies President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza, endorses a new International Stabilization Force (ISF), and formally recognizes the establishment of a “Board of Peace” to be chaired by Trump himself. Russia and China abstained, allowing the measure to pass without a veto.
Questions have been raised about the future of one of Europe’s largest on-shore natural-gas reserves after parts of the Dutch province of Groningen were struck by one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded there.
Gunmen abducted 25 students from a girls’ school in northwest Nigeria early Monday after killing at least one staff member, adding to fears among the nation’s Christian minority, police and other sources confirmed.
South Africa has launched an investigation after 153 Palestinians unexpectedly arrived on a chartered flight at Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport last week, prompting questions over who organized the journey and whether any fleeing Hamas fighters or officials may have been among them.
A planned auction of more than 600 Holocaust-era artifacts was cancelled in Germany after an outcry from survivors, victims’ families, civil society groups, and top government officials.