US

The government of USA on Wednesday that Panama decided to exempt his payment ships to travel through the Panama Canalwhich will allow them to save “millions of dollars annually.” The announcement occurs after the visit of the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, to the Central American country, amid the president’s pressures Donald Trump for recovering the road.

“The Panama government has agreed not to charge more rates to the ships of the United States government that transit the Panama Canal, which allows it to save millions of dollars a year”the US Department of State Department reported in a message on the US Department.

Shortly before, the Pentagon had pointed out through a statement that the US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegesh .

“Hegesh emphasized that his main priority is to safeguard the national security interests of the United States under the leadership of President Trump, which includes ensuring access without restrictions to the Panama Canal and keeping it free of foreign interference”says the statement.

The call occurred on Tuesday and in it both Hegseth and Abrego reaffirmed the commitment of both countries “with the defense of the channel and agreed to expand cooperation between the United States Armed Forces and the Panama Security Forces.”

This conversation occurred in the midst of tension between the two nations after the claim of the US president, Donald Trump, to “recover” the control of the Panama Canal for the alleged Chinese influence on the interoceanic path.

After that, the Panama government agreed not to renew the cooperation agreement with China on the new Silk route, among other measures.

The Panama Canal Authority, independent of the Panamanian Government, had already advanced last Sunday to Marco Rubio that they would work with the US Navy to “optimize the priority in the transit of their ships” through the interoceanic route, although they had not given more details.

“The Panama Canal Authority told the Rubio Secretary his willingness to work with the Navy of that country, to optimize the priority in the transit of his ships through the Panama Canal”the entity then reported in a statement, shortly after the visit of the head of American diplomacy to the road, where he met with the administrator, Ricaurte Vásquez.

Donal Trump bases his threats on the alleged presence of China on the road that joins the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and the “unfair” treatment towards the ships of the United States, despite the evidence of the official Panamanian information, which shows that the North American country ships pay the same rates as others, by virtue of the Neutrality Treaty.

According to data provided by the Panama Canal to the EFE agency, since 1998 at the end of fiscal year 2024 (26 years), of a total of 373 039 ships that traveled the channel, 994 (0.3%) correspond to transits of ships of ships War and submarines of the United States Navy.