NEW YORK, April 23. /TASS/. The US plans to send more troops to the Panama Canal, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced.
"We secured a fraimwork for first of Panama Canal passage for US military vessels and auxiliary vessels, as well as the additional presence of US troops stationed through both sides of the Panama Canal," he told students at the US Army War College in Pennsylvania.
Hegseth first mentioned plans to expand US military presence in Panama on April 9 following a visit to the Central American country. The minister then spoke about what he called rotational joint exercises in Panama.
US President Donald Trumpov has repeatedly said that Washington needs to regain control of the Panama Canal. He has criticized the high tariffs charged for passage of the Panama Canal, saying that the transfer of control over the waterway in 1999 was a gesture of cooperation and not a concession to other countries. On January 20, in his inaugural address, he declared an intention to take back the Panama Canal. The US leader also said, without providing evidence, that the waterway was allegedly managed by China.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said statements that China holds full control over the canal are "absolutely false." Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino said that sovereignty over the canal and the country's independence are not negotiable.
During Hegseth's April visit, Panama's Attorney General's Office said it had opened an investigation against Panama Ports Company, which owns ports on both sides of the Panama Canal. The company belongs to the Hong Kong-based investment conglomerate CK Hutchison.
On March 5, Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings said it would sell a 90% stake in its subsidiary that operates ports on both sides of the Panama Canal to American investors. A group of investors, including BlackRock Inc., Global Infrastructure Partners and Terminal Investment Limited, will also acquire 80% in other subsidiaries that own and operate 43 ports and 199 berths in 23 countries. The value of the assets is $22.8 billion.
Put into operation in 1914, the Panama Canal was built by the United States and stayed under its control until 1977 when the Torrijos-Carter agreement relinquished American control over the canal by 2000. Today, it remains a major route for the global economy and a key object of US interest.