Seatrade Maritime: Panama President Mulino says crisis with the US is over

Panama President José Raúl Mulino said last Friday, 2 January, that the crisis with the United States is over, after Donald Trump threatened in early 2025 to take back the interoceanic canal because it was supposedly controlled by China. 

“Panama moved toward a relationship of respect, restored trust, joint work, and friendship, and the canal remained Panamanian, as it will indeed continue to be,” Mulino said in his traditional New Year’s address to the National Assembly.  

When taking office last year 20 January, Trump pressured Panama to rescind the operations of Panama Ports Company, a subsidiary of Hong Kong based-Hutchison Ports that administers two terminals at both the Pacific and Atlantic entrances of the Panama Canal and demanded that its ships be allowed to transit the canal for free. 

Mulino said that “with steady resolve and time” the bilateral relationship was repaired and that Panama is now “actively” cooperating with the United States “in the fight against international crime.” 

The statement by President Mulino came just a day before the US captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a military operation. The US has charged Maduro with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy and weapons charges. Commentators have noted how the removal of Maduro mirrors that of deposing of Manual Noriega in Panama exactly 36 years earlier to the day.

Commenting on the situation in Venezuela on 3 January, President Mulino posted on social media platform X: “In light of the events that unfolded this morning in Venezuela, my government reiterates its support for the democratic process and for respecting the legitimate wishes of the Venezuelan people, expressed decisively at the ballot box, where Mr. Edmundo González was elected. Panama will always stand in solidarity with peace and with an orderly and legitimate transition process.”

In March last year, CK Hutchison reached an in-principle agreement to sell an 80 % stake in its port assets, including the two ports in Panama, to a consortium led by BlackRock and Terminal Investment Limited (TiL Group). TiL Group is the terminal arm of the world’s largest container shipper, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC). But Negotiations remained deadlocked by late December since Beijing objects the sale if Cosco Shipping Group does not have a major participation in the consortium.

In addition, Hutchison Panama’s concession contract is being challenged in court for being unconstitutional, a matter which is expected to be ruled by Panama Supreme Court in this month.

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has marked 26 years of Panamanian administration on 31 December 2025, commemorating the transfer of control from the United States in 1999. The canal continues to play a central role in Panama’s economy and in international maritime commerce.

Over the past 26 years, the ACP has transferred approximately $31.2 billion to Panama’s National Treasury, contributing to government revenues and public investment.

In November 2025, the ACP outlined a long-term investment plan focused on maintaining the canal’s competitiveness and operational reliability with projects related to port infrastructure, energy logistics, and water resource management to support both canal operations and domestic needs.