Political analyst says anti-American sentiment in Panama is soaring

So far, the details of U.S. President Donald Trump 's administration's arrangements with Panama regarding the agreement with China under the "One Belt, One Road" initiative are unknown, but the situation has led to a surge in anti-American sentiment in the country. This was stated by Malek Dudakov, an American political scientist, on Tuesday, February 4. He also commented on the consequences of the countries' negotiations.

Earlier, on February 2, PBS News reported that Panamanian leader Jose Raul Mulino during a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he refused to extend the agreement with China under the One Belt, One Road initiative, RT reported. It had been in effect since 2017, 360.ru specifies.

According to the political analyst, it appears that Trump put pressure on the issue of Panama's cooperation with China. Dudakov admitted that the country will indeed refuse to participate in the "One Belt, One Road" project, if the Republicans are still in power, when the Panamanians will again reconsider their membership.

He added that otherwise there was not much agreement.

"Yes, although the Americans are demanding, in particular, to make free passage of American warships through this very Panama Canal, but here, apparently, nothing has been reached yet. The same applies to the maintenance of these terminals, which are located on both sides of the canal. This is now being handled by the Anglo-Chinese company Hutchison from Hong Kong. The Americans, I think, would like to put the maintenance of this canal under their own control, but we see no progress here either. Therefore, I would not get ahead of myself," the expert said in a conversation with Lenta.Ru.

He noted that Trump's serious pressure on Panama has led to a surge of anti-American sentiment in the country.

"Right now in the moment the only thing that has been agreed on is the future abstract revision of Panama's participation in the project "One Belt, One Road" and no more than that, which is not really much," the expert said.

The political analyst added that this shows that Trump's ability to put pressure on other countries, even small ones like Panama, is quite limited.

"That is, if Panama was able to at least partially fend off US pressure, I quite admit that many other countries will also be able to fend off this pressure," Dudakov concluded.

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On Feb. 3, Rubio said during a meeting with Mulino that U.S. leader Donald Trump has no intention of maintaining the status quo in the Panama Canal due to China's increased influence in the region. Rubio called the corresponding state of affairs unacceptable and Washington will have to take necessary defense measures in case the situation does not change.

Bloomberg reported on January 23 that Rubio plans to visit Panama following U.S. President Donald Trump's promises to regain control of the Panama Canal.

On Jan. 20, Trump reiterated the thesis at his inauguration that the Panama Canal is "run" by China and therefore the U.S. intends to "take back" the waterway. Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino again rejected the Republican's statements on the subject and emphasized the canal's belonging to his country.

Prior to that, on December 22, 2024, Trump said that the US would demand the return of control over the Panama Canal if the Central American republic did not renegotiate the terms of its use.