Panama’s Economy Minister: ‘China’s presence is marginal’

“China’s presence does not move the needle of the Panamanian economy,” says Felipe Chapman, the economy minister of the Central American nation. On Wednesday Chapman joined Panama’s foreign affairs minister, Javier Martínez-Acha, in an interview conducted by Jan Martínez Ahrens, director of EL PAÍS América, to discuss Donald Trump’s claims about China’s alleged influence in the isthmus. Martínez-Acha reiterated the message that Panama President, José Rafael Mulino, delivered earlier at the International Economic Forum for Latin America and the Caribbean: the Panama Canal is and will continue to be Panama’s.

The second day of the symposium organized by CAF, the development bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, in alliance with the PRISA Group and World in Progress (WIP), was also a prelude to a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is expected to arrive on Saturday night in Panama City. The foreign minister said that the meeting — which comes shortly after Trump famously said the Canal should revert to the United States due to alleged Chinese interference — will go over “matters of common interest.” Martínez-Acha noted that there are no foreign soldiers in the country and that, ever since Panama began managing the Canal, more than 350,000 ships from all nations have used it.

The foreign minister emphasized that one of the main topics on the agenda will be migration, a central issue in Trump’s successful presidential campaign. One of the major migration routes into the U.S. crosses Panama from south to north, from the jungle border with Colombia in Darien to Costa Rica. He also underscored that the volume of people in transit has shrunk under the current Administration, after the record reached in 2023 with almost half a million migrants.

“In January, the flow was 90% below the same month last year. In 2024, it was reduced by 40%, the result of a decision that President Mulino implemented on the first day by signing a memorandum of understanding with the United States to create a process for the deportation of migrants that includes respect for human rights, and which has served as a deterrent,” he said. He clarified, however, that this may only be the beginning, and that with more cooperation and funding from the United States the results could be even better. “The southern border of the United States is not in Texas, it is in Darien,” he argued.

Chapman, for his part, pointed to the criminal groups that turn migration into a source of illegal income: “It is a human tragedy and a global phenomenon that includes large cartels such as the Tren de Aragua and the Clan del Golfo, which profit from it.” Regarding this second criminal group, Martínez-Acha revealed that, minutes before the interview, he had had his first bilateral meeting with his Colombian counterpart, Laura Sarabia, whom he asked for greater collaboration on the border.

Both ministers agreed that the most important bilateral relation for Panama is with the United States, and also with Colombia, the two main sources of foreign investment.

The situation in Venezuela also came up in the discussion. Chapman pointed out that the migration problem is not new, and that one of its main causes is the social, economic and political crisis in the South American country. Martínez-Acha reaffirmed the position of the Panamanian government on the elections of July 28: “For Panama, the president of Venezuela is Edmundo González. Mr. Maduro leads an illegitimate government after a monumental fraud.” He added that the change in that country must be led by the Venezuelan people, but recalled a promise from his Administration: “President Mulino has to take the voter tallies that certify Edmundo’s victory, and which are being kept safe in Panama, to Caracas.”

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