El PAIS -- Panama will not renew the memorandum of understanding it signed with China in 2017 within the framework of the Silk Road, a strategic plan with geopolitical and economic ramifications to which Beijing assigns vital importance for its economy. 

The decision was announced this Sunday by the Government of José Raúl Mulino after a meeting in Panama City with the Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio. Donald Trump's head of diplomacy had warned Mulino that Chinese influence in the Panama Canal was "unacceptable" to Washington. 

And he went further: if the Central American country does not make "immediate changes" in this regard, "the United States will take the necessary measures to protect its rights," said the spokesperson for the State Department, Tammy Bruce. In a press conference after the meeting, Mulino said that "there is no real threat [on the part of the United States] to recover the canal or the use of force." The agreement between Panama and China must be renewed in 2026.

Mulino reviewed the conversation with Rubio without mentioning Washington's threat or his decision not to renew the agreement with China. "It was a very calm and respectful meeting," he said. Sunday's meeting was the first stop on Rubio's official visit to Central America and the Caribbean. Mulino, in a friendly tone, took the opportunity to send a message to Trump: "We want to work with the United States as we have always done."

Guarded by his official security, Rubio got out of a pickup truck, walked under the mild summer sun and greeted the foreign minister, Javiel Martínez-Acha, who was waiting for him at the entrance of the Palacio de las Garzas, the seat of the Panamanian government. 

He was alone with President Mulino for more than an hour, and then joined an extended meeting with the teams of both governments, for two more hours. “The Canal is not negotiable,” Mulino repeated after the meeting. 

What did he negotiate? Control of the migratory passage through Darién, intelligence information on money laundering and organized crime, investments and, probably, the ports on both sides of the canal.

In any case, Panama will cede some control in the territory bordering Colombia, in the province of Darien, where a landing strip will possibly be built to deepen the migrant deportation policy that began last July, when Mulino took office. “We agreed to explore the possibility of expanding the memorandum that we signed on July 1 to be able to articulate more,” said the president. 

Also, according to a government source, they would be willing to open the lock that protects classified information on money laundering and organized crime.

Rubio's tour will continue to El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.

PHOTO: Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio this Sunday in Panama City