(10 Jan 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Panama City, Panama – 10 January 2025
1. Various of cruise ship passing through canal
2. Ricaurte Vásquez, administrator of the Panama Canal, during interview
3. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ricaurte Vásquez, administrator of the Panama Canal:
"None. And in that we have to be categorical: none. Are there customers who are Chinese shipping companies? Yes, there are. The neutrality treaty clearly and specifically states that the Canal is open to vessels of all nations."
4. Various of lock gates operating
5. Sign reading (English) "Miraflores Locks – Panama Canal"
6. A ship transiting through the Canal
7. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ricaurte Vásquez, administrator of the Panama Canal:
"The Panamanian government has made other bids for port facilities. So, although this one is now operated by a company that is Chinese – given that Hong Kong became part of China – it is no less true that in the Panamanian port terminals, there is a port operated by a Panamanian shipping company, Evergreen, in Colón. There is also a port operated by an American shipping company, Stewarding Services of America, then, now SA Marine, that operates the port of Manzanillo, and here in the Pacific, on the west coast, PSA operates another port."
8. Various of Seaways Star vessel transiting through
9. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ricaurte Vásquez, administrator of the Panama Canal:
"The neutrality treaty says: everyone passes equally, under the same rules. Once an exception process is opened in the Panama Canal transit and operations allocation processes, a pandora’s box is opened and we don’t know where it ends. So the most sensible, the most prudent way to do this is to maintain the established rules, to follow the rules that are internationally accepted, that have been operating since before the transfer of the Panama Canal and that have continued with the Panama Canal Authority."
10. Various of Seaways Star vessel transiting through
11. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ricaurte Vásquez, administrator of the Panama Canal:
"Strictly speaking, there is no foundation for that sort of hope (retaking the Canal). That is the only thing I can say. Strictly speaking, the treaty was approved by the United States Senate following the procedures and laws of the United States, and it was approved in Panama following the laws and procedures under Panamanian law."
12. Various of containers
STORYLINE:
The administrator of the Panama Canal said Friday that the vital waterway will remain in Panamanian hands and open to commerce from all countries, rejecting claims by President-elect Donald Trump that the United States should take it over.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Ricaurte Vásquez denied Trump’s claims that China was controlling the canal’s operations and said making exceptions to current rules controlling its operation would lead to "chaos."
He said Chinese companies operating in the ports on either end of the canal were part of a Hong Kong consortium that won a bidding process in 1997. He added that U.S. and Taiwanese companies are operating other ports along the canal as well.
Trump has gone so far as to suggest the U.S. should take control of the canal back and he would not rule out using military might to do so.
Trump has characterized the fees for transiting the canal that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as “ridiculous.”
Panama President José Raúl Mulino has said unequivocally that the canal will remain in Panamanian hands.
Vásquez stressed that the Panama Canal was open to the commerce of all countries.
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/3e373c27fba747c8b0a7e5dc289f39a2
Author: AP Archive
Go to Source
News post in January 16, 2025, 12:05 am.
Visit Our Sponsor’s:
News Post In – News
