Panama’s president denies making a deal that US ships can transit the canal for free

By ALMA SOLÍS

PANAMA CITY (AP) — Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino connected Thursday denied the U.S. State Department’s assertion that his state had reached a woody allowing U.S. warships to transit the Panama Canal for free.

Mulino said helium had told U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth connected Wednesday that helium could neither acceptable the fees to transit the canal nor exempt anyone from them and that helium was amazed by the U.S. State Department’s connection suggesting different precocious Wednesday.

“I wholly cull that connection yesterday,” Mulino said during his play property conference, adding that helium had asked Panama’s ambassador successful Washington to quality the State Department’s statement.

On Wednesday evening, the U.S. State Department said via X that “U.S. authorities vessels tin present transit the Panama Canal without complaint fees, redeeming the U.S. authorities millions of dollars a year.” The section had nary contiguous remark Thursday connected Mulino’s remarks.

The Panama Canal Authority enactment retired its ain terse connection aboriginal Wednesday nighttime saying it had “not made immoderate adjustments” to the fees.

Mulino said the U.S. connection “really surprises maine due to the fact that they’re making an important, organization connection from the entity that governs United States overseas argumentation nether the president of the United States based connected a falsity. And that’s intolerable.”

The differing versions came conscionable days aft U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Mulino and canal administrators and visited the captious commercialized route.

Rubio had carried a message from U.S. President Donald Trump that China’s influence astatine the canal was unacceptable.

Rubio had told Mulino that Trump believed that China’s beingness successful the canal country whitethorn interruption a pact that led the United States to crook the waterway implicit to Panama successful 1999. That pact calls for the imperishable neutrality of the American-built canal.

Canal administrators said they were unfastened to discussing giving U.S. warships precedence successful crossing the canal, but did not accidental they had considered waiving fees.

Mulino said Thursday that some Panama’s constitution and laws regulating the Canal Authority marque wide that neither the authorities nor the authorization tin waive fees. “It’s a law limitation,” helium said.

AP writer Matthew Lee successful Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic contributed to this report.

Originally Published: February 6, 2025 astatine 1:00 PM EST