The president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, returns to Panama 15 years after his last visit to this Central American country, bringing an agreement to boost bilateral trade to his agenda, against the backdrop of his support for the sovereignty of the interoceanic canal and the awaited Panamanian trial for the Odebrecht bribery scandal.
According to Panamanian analyst Rodrigo Noriega, Lula's visit "demonstrates the approach of the administration of Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino to Brazilian patronage as a way to obtain certain international backing for the cause of Panamanian sovereignty." On the same day, Brazil's Secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean, Gisela Padovan, highlighted that Brazil and Panama are experiencing a moment of "much dynamism" in their bilateral relationship, recalling that Lula and Mulino have met five times since 2024 and that trade exchange between the two countries increased by 78% in the last year.
"Brazil fully supports the sovereignty it has over the Panama Canal, which it has managed for more than 25 years with guarantees of neutrality and efficiency," Lula declared last August in Brasilia, accompanied by Mulino, who was visiting. "The fact that Lula is president and walking the streets of the world, and the fact that Panama is the last country to hold the Odebrecht trial, have the same reason at their core: the impunity of the Latin American political class," Noriega commented to EFE.
Coinciding with Lula's visit, Brazil and Panama will sign an "agreement for cooperation and facilitation of investments" that will establish rules and promote capital flows in both directions, according to Alexandre Ghisleni, director of the Department of Economic Policy of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The analyst and legal expert stressed that "the Lula government has refused to cooperate with the Panamanian justice system to issue notifications for key witnesses in the case," because the Brazilian leftist leader "is not interested in there being justice in Brazil or in Panama."
The United States built the Canal at the beginning of the 20th century and operated it for more than eight decades until its transfer to Panama on December 31, 1999. The president of the largest South American power announced last August Brazil's accession to the Canal Neutrality Treaty, at a time of tension between Panama and the United States over Donald Trump's expressed intention to "recover" the waterway due to alleged Chinese influence, always rejected by Mulino, who demanded that his country not be involved in the U.S.-China geopolitical struggle.
Lula, 80, is the guest of honor at the second edition of the Latin America and the Caribbean Economic Forum, dubbed the 'Latin American Davos,' which kicks off this Wednesday with the presence of eight Latin American and Caribbean dignitaries and the task of rethinking the region's position in the world.
