[Source: BBC NEWS]
Panama President José Raúl Mulino has accused the US of spreading “lies and falsehoods” after the US State Department claimed American government vessels were no longer required to pay a fee to transit through the Panama Canal.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has since rowed back on his department’s claim, but called the fee for American vessels “absurd” due to a treaty binding the US to protect the canal if it comes under attack.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly voiced his desire to regain control of the waterway since taking office and has refused to rule out retaking it by force. He is due to speak with Mulino on Friday.
All vessels are required to pay a fee, based on size and type, for crossing the waterway but US ships have priority of passage.
In a post on X on Wednesday, the State Department wrote: “U.S. government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without charge fees, saving the U.S. government millions of dollars a year.”
Mulino reacted to the statement by saying he rejects “this method of managing bilateral relations on the basis of lies and falsehoods.”
He said he asked his ambassador in Washington to take “firm steps” to reject the claim, calling it “simply and plainly intolerable.”
Mulino added that US government vessels, including navy vessels, paid “$6-7m [£4.8-5.6m] a year” for the right of passage.
“It’s not as if the canal toll is breaking the economy of the United States,” he added.
