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panama chairman Jose Raul Mulino said Thursday that someone at the U.S. Embassy is threatening Panamanian officials to revoke visas. trump Administration pressures Panama to limit its ties China,
Responding to a question at his weekly press conference, Mulino said without offering evidence that a U.S. embassy official was “threatening to take away visas,” adding that such actions “are not consistent with the good relations I wish to maintain with the United States.” He did not reveal the name of the officer.
The US Embassy in Panama did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Trump administration has previously declined to comment on individual visa decisions.
But in September, the US State Department said in a statement that the US is committed to countering China’s influence in Central America and will ban visas for people who maintain ties to the Communist Party of China or undermine democracy in the region on behalf of China.
Earlier this week, the Trump administration revoked the visas of six foreigners who US officials believed had made sarcastic comments or highlighted the killing of a conservative activist. charlie kirk Last month.
Recently similar cases have come to light in the area. In April, former Costa Rican President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oscar Arias said the US had revoked his visa. In July, Vanessa Castro, vice president of the Costa Rican Congress, said the US Embassy informed her that the US had revoked her visa, citing alleged contacts with the Chinese Communist Party.
Panama has become particularly sensitive to US-China tensions because of the strategically important Panama Canal.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Panama in February on his first foreign trip as a top US diplomat and called on Panama to immediately reduce China’s influence over the canal. Panama has strongly denied Chinese influence over canal operations, but has gone along with US pressure for the Hong Kong-based company that operates ports at both ends of the canal to sell its concession to a US consortium.
Mulino has said that Panama will maintain the neutrality of the canal.
“They are free to give and take visas to whoever they want, but they are not threatening to take away visas if you don’t do something,” Mulino said Thursday. He said the underlying issue – the conflict between the US and China – “does not involve Panama.”
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