Those attending the ceremony stood firm as Panama’s president laid a wreath in memory of those who died protesting the U.S. occupation 60 years ago.
This month’s commemoration comes days after President-elect Donald J. Trump falsely claimed China controlled the Panama Canal and suggested he might use military force to retake it. It was done later.
The threat reverberated across the country, which still remembers the events of 1964, when students attempting to plant a Panamanian flag in the U.S.-occupied Canal Zone were met with deadly force.
“My brother did not die in vain,” said Carlos E. Bonilla Caco, whose brother died in the protests that sparked a movement to restore sovereignty to Panamanians.
The country’s leaders agreed.
On a hillside near the Panama Canal Authority offices, President Jose Raul Mulino stood firm. “The canal is and always will be Panama’s,” he said.
The statement was a direct challenge to Trump, with some analysts saying he was simply showing Panama to demand lower rates for U.S. goods passing through the canal. He has been slamming the issue recently.
But former U.S. officials have warned that he could alienate Panama at a time when China is trying to win over Panama as an ally and expand its influence in Latin America.
Ramon Escobar, who served on the National Security Council until September and is now managing director of the global consulting firm Actum, said: “President Trump’s saber rattling is a sign of economic expansion of our relationship with the United States.” “This could undermine the Panamanian government’s desire to do so.”
“We may end up pushing them away when we have a real opportunity to get Panama back on our track,” Escobar said.
The canal was built by the United States in the early 20th century, but Panama regained full control in 1999 and has operated the waterway through the Panama Canal Authority ever since.
Panama currently has special strategic importance for China thanks to the canal, but Beijing is seeking to expand its influence in Latin America and the wider developing world. It has portrayed itself as an alternative to American hegemony and bullying, and positioned itself as a more sympathetic fellow developing nation.
And China has invested heavily in building ports around the world, putting it in a position to influence global commerce and monitor international activity.
Specifically, U.S. authorities have grown concerned about two ports on opposite ends of the Panama Canal that have been operated for decades by Hong Kong-based company CK Hutchison Holdings.
CK Hutchison is a publicly traded conglomerate whose largest shareholders are a Hong Kong billionaire family, but the Chinese government could still use national security laws to compel it to collect intelligence or support military operations.
But Panamanian officials insist China poses no risk. The canal is open to the public and it would be obvious if China intervened.
“With satellites, anyone can see what’s going in and out of the port,” Ilya Espino de Marotta, deputy administrator of the Panama Canal, said in an interview last week. “The canal runs through the country along national highways and is visible to the public.”
John Feely, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Panama from 2015 to 2018, said Trump brought up the Panama Canal internally during his first administration, stating that he considered the waterway an unfinished business. It is said that it was shown.
Mr. Feeley said that in June 2017, Mr. Trump met with then-Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela, who said the U.S. Navy was paying a large amount of money (approximately $1 million a year) to cross the canal. complained. (Analysts say the cost would be so small that it would be close to a rounding error in the Pentagon’s budget.)
But Mr. Feeley, who attended the White House summit, said that even though Panama cut ties with Taiwan and formed an alliance with China just a few weeks ago, Mr. He never mentioned power.
The former ambassador said he tried to get the White House to focus on China’s growing influence in Panama, but the problem never escalated to a serious alarm level.
At the time, China had pledged to invest in big-ticket infrastructure items in Panama, including a canal bridge, as part of its Belt and Road Initiative. Through this initiative, Beijing is increasing its global influence, investing in ports, roads and railways from Kenya to Sri Lanka and, most recently, Latin America. Critics say the Chinese government uses the program to impose failed projects and unsustainable debt on foreign governments and to exert Chinese influence.
Feeley said he tried to get U.S. companies to bid on these projects to compete with China. But he said the U.S. Embassy in Panama City never had the support of the White House to persuade U.S. companies to bid.
“We’re not losing to China in Latin America. For the most part, we’re not even on the commercial battlefield,” Feeley said.
Governments in Latin American countries like Panama complain that the United States is often absent when bidding on big-ticket infrastructure projects, forcing them to rely on other countries from Europe to China to get the work done. .
“The United States is not bidding on big infrastructure projects here, but China is,” said Julia de Sanctis, president of the Panama Employers Association. “Should we now say to them, ‘It’s time to get out of Panama, get out of Panama?'” Trump doesn’t like you. ” So, is there anyone here who can invest with confidence? ”
The Panama Canal Authority said that although the United States built the canal for military purposes, the Panamanians developed it as a major hub for global trade.
Once handed over by the U.S. military, authorities invested more than $5 billion to expand the waterway to accommodate the giant cargo ships that are the most popular route from the U.S. to East Asia.
“Without our investment, this canal would have become irrelevant to the scale of global trade,” Ms. Espino de Marotta said.
“Our neutrality is our greatest business asset, allowing us to become a conduit for global commerce,” she said. He said the three ports at the canal’s Atlantic entrance are operated separately by companies based in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the United States.
“These ports have been controlled by Hong Kong since 1997 and throughout the first Trump administration,” she added. “Mr. Trump said nothing about it at the time, so why now?”
Some Panamanians are reluctant to allow further Chinese investment in the country. Mr. Varela moved Panama’s diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China and struck several business deals with Beijing, but successive governments have sought to scale back these commitments.
Ramon Martínez, who served as commerce secretary after Barrera left office, expressed displeasure with the political and economic agreements the previous government had signed with China. He said he had suspended a free trade agreement with China that was under negotiation. A bridge over the canal that China had promised to build was also temporarily suspended.
Mr. Martinez emphasized that Panama’s most important ally has always been the United States.
Last week, hundreds of tourists gathered on the terrace of the Miraflores Visitor Center to get a bird’s-eye view of the Panama Canal. They waved as towering cruise ships weaved through the canal.
“At first I laughed, it’s just crazy,” Jacqueline Williams said of Trump’s threat to Panama, waving at a passing cruise ship. The 67-year-old nonprofit educator was visiting Canal from New York City.
“But you think: This is a guy who idolizes Putin,” she said of the Russian president. “While on the campaign trail, Trump said he wanted to restore peace to the world, but now he is threatening military expansionism.”
Alex E. Hernandez contributed reporting from Panama City. Vivian Wang From Beijing Emiliano Rodriguez Mega Born in Mexico City.
