By Jasper Ward
(Reuters) -U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has picked Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera to serve as ambassador to Panama after having threatened for the U.S. to reassert control over the Panama Canal it handed over 25 years ago.
Trump described Cabrera as “a fierce fighter for America First principles” who he said has been instrumental in driving economic growth and fostering international partnerships.
“Few understand Latin American politics as well as Kevin – He will do a FANTASTIC job representing our Nation’s interests in Panama!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday.
On Sunday, Trump threatened to reassert U.S. control over the Panama Canal, which it administered for decades before handing it over to Panama in 1999.
Trump said the Central American country, with whom the U.S. has had diplomatic relations since 1903, is “ripping us off on the Panama Canal, far beyond their wildest dreams.”
He accused Chinese soldiers of illegally operating the canal and “always making certain that the United States puts in Billions of Dollars in ‘repair’ money but will have absolutely nothing to say about ‘anything.'”
Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino has said China had no influence on the canal’s administration, and on Thursday added that there were no Chinese soldiers at the canal.
“There are no Chinese soldiers in the canal for the love of God, the world is free to visit to the canal,” he said in a speech on Thursday.
China does not control or administer the canal, but a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings, has long managed two ports located on the canal’s Caribbean and Pacific entrances.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward; Additional reporting by Elida Moreno in Panama City; Editing by Frank McGurty and Chris Reese)
