Defending Panama’s Neutrality
Editorial from “La Estrella de Panamá”
HAVANA TIMES – The dispute between the United States and China is not Panama’s dispute. Our National Assembly’s decision to join the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) has led Washington to celebrate while Beijing questions it, and meanwhile, both are trying to pull Panama into their own board of interests.
Each of these giants interprets the decision through the lens of its own rivalry. For the United States, it is a step against the expansion of the Chinese Communist Party’s influence; for China, it is an intrusion encouraged by the US ambassador. In the midst of these recriminations, Panama risks being dragged into a chess game that does not belong to it.
The Panama Canal, the cornerstone of our national identity and a driving force of the global economy, is shielded by international treaties that enshrine it as a neutral enclave. That neutrality is not a mere legal concept: it is a principle of survival.
The United States and China are, simultaneously, strategic partners for Panama. The former maintains historical, commercial, and security ties that cannot be ignored. The latter, as the world’s second-largest economy, is today one of our main clients for cargo transit and a crucial partner in investment.
Breaking the balance in favor of one or the other would not only be reckless but also counterproductive. We are a small country, but with a respected voice in the world, and its tone must be clear, strong, and forceful: Panama is not at war and must not become anyone’s diplomatic battlefield.
Our Assembly, our Executive Branch, and our diplomatic corps have the obligation to reject any external pressure seeking to instrumentalize our decisions. In turbulent times, Panama must remember that its greatest strength is not in aligning with one bloc or the other, but in remaining faithful to its neutrality. Neither Washington nor Beijing will write our destiny.
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First published in Spanish by La Estrella de Panama and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.