Just like Greenland, President Trump has expressed an interest in claiming the Panama Canal for America. Why is he suggesting this and how difficult would reclaiming the Canal be?

From Breitbart. President-elect Donald Trump has expressed a strong interest in acquiring control of the Panama Canal, potentially by force if necessary.

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“Look, the Panama Canal is vital to our country. It’s being operated by China. And we gave the Panama Canal to Panama; we didn’t give it to China. And they’ve abused it. They’ve abused that gift,” Trump said at a press conference from his Mar-a-Lago resort on Tuesday.

Trump added that the deal to give away the canal “should never have been made.” …

The deal to give away the Panama Canal was made, no matter how foolish it might have been. Control was ceded to the government of Panama in the Torrijos-Carter Treaties of 1978 and the handover took effect in 1999.

As things stand, the Panama Canal is legally owned by the government of Panama, but that ownership is not entirely unconditional. The Carter-Torrijos Treaties contain “neutrality” guarantees that, if violated, could present a legal justification for challenging Panamanian ownership.

Otherwise, the government of Panama could voluntarily sell the canal back to the U.S. government. …

The treaties, signed into law in 1979, sought to address a major concern of critics by giving the United States the right to defend the Panama Canal against foreign interference. They addressed charges of imperialism and compromising Panama’s sovereignty by dissolving the Panama Canal Zone — the part of Panama owned by the United States — in 1979 and turning control of the canal over to Panama in 1999. This had the happy coincidence of getting the canal handover past the reign of deranged Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega in the late 1980s.

The Panamanians have stridently denied Trump’s claim of Chinese interference with the Panama Canal. China does, however, have significant influence over the Panamanian government — it was able to bully Panama into cutting its longstanding ties with Taiwan in 2017 — and Chinese companies have been heavily involved with numerous upgrades and renovations to the canal in recent years.

Panama joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2018, and China has acquired control of land on both sides of the canal, including leases and investments in Panamanian ports. This all comes arguably close to activating the clauses in the Carter-Torrijos Treaties that give the United States the right to use force to counter any threat to the neutrality of the Panama Canal.

In December, Trump also criticized the “ridiculous, highly unfair” fees being charged for transit of American military and commercial vessels …

Trump said that if shipping rates through the Panama Canal were not lowered, “we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, quickly and without question.”

Panama claims the higher fees are necessary due to droughts in the region and argues that American ships are treated no differently than those of other nations. Any difference in fees due to national origin could be taken as a challenge to the guaranteed neutrality of the canal.

What do you think of Trump’s plans for the Panama Canal? Share your thoughts and prayers below.

(Excerpt from Breitbart. Photo Credit: Mariordo (Mario Roberto Durán Ortiz) – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=82643323)