Panama Alerts United Nations to Trump’s Inaugural Remarks

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U.S.|Panama Alerts United Nations to Trump’s Inaugural Remarks

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/21/us/panama-canal-trump-un.html

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On Monday, President Trump said of the Panama Canal, “We’re taking it back.” The letter from Panama cited articles of the U.N. charter that prohibit member states from using threats and force.

A cargo ship goes along the Panama Canal, with lush vegetation on the canal’s banks.

Jan. 21, 2025, 3:11 p.m. ET

Panama submitted a formal letter to U.N. Secretary General António Guterres and the U.N. Security Council on Monday, rejecting comments that President Trump made about reclaiming the Panama Canal during his inauguration speech.

“We didn’t give it to China,” Mr. Trump said after being sworn in. “We gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back.”

The letter, dated Jan. 20 and seen by The New York Times, attached a statement by President José Raúl Mulino of Panama saying that on behalf of his country and people, “I must reject in its entirety the words expressed by President Donald Trump regarding Panama and its Canal in his inaugural address.”

Mr. Mulino said, “the canal is and will continue to be Panama’s.”

The letter cited two articles of the U.N. charter that prohibit member states from using threats and force against “the territorial integrity or political independence,” calling such actions inconsistent with the purpose of the United Nations, and suggesting that Mr. Trump’s statements violated the U.N. charter.

Panama did not ask for the Security Council to convene a meeting about the issue, but diplomats said that if tensions between the United States and Panama persist, then it was possible that the Council could schedule a meeting.

The United States is among the five permanent veto-holding members of the council.

Starting late last year, Mr. Trump has repeatedly taken aim at Panama, falsely claiming that Panama has ceded control of the canal to China and that the United States must reclaim the strategic passageway.