Panama City, Jan 28 (EFE).- The president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, said this Wednesday in the capital of Panama that backing the neutrality of the interoceanic canal 'is to defend an international trade based on multilateral rules.' Lula reiterated his support for Panamanian sovereignty over the navigable passage during a press conference following a bilateral meeting with his Panamanian counterpart, Jose Raul Mulino, during which commercial agreements were signed and bilateral relations were reviewed. 'Defending the neutrality of the Canal is to defend a fair, balanced international trade based on multilateral rules,' affirmed Lula. Panama and the United States experienced moments of tension in 2025 due to the threat of the U.S. president, Donald Trump, to recover the interoceanic canal alleging Chinese influence over the route, always denied by the government of Mulino, which demanded Washington not to involve his country in its geopolitical struggle with China. This chapter of tension seems to have been overcome already, according to the statements of high-ranking officials from both governments, who bet on continuing to strengthen ties in all areas. The Brazilian leftist leader recalled this Wednesday that in August last, during a visit by Mulino to Brazil, he already expressed that his Government 'fully supports the sovereignty of Panama over the Canal,' which the Central American nation has administered for more than 25 years and after the United States transferred it, which built it in the early twentieth century and operated for more than eight decades. 'I sent to the Brazilian National Congress the proposal for formal adherence (of Brazil) to the protocol of neutrality of the Canal,' the treaty that governs the 82-kilometer waterway through which between 3% and 6% of world trade passes, commented Lula. 'Panama, for almost three decades, efficiently, safely and non-discriminatorily administers that fundamental route for the world economy,' he said. He also said he was 'impressed by the structural, technological and operational leap given since 2012, when I saw the locks for the last time,' by the Canal, whose new locks, operational since 2016, he visited this Wednesday along with other Latin American dignitaries who are in Panama for a regional economic forum inaugurated this day. 'The Canal is also a benchmark for climate governance, with innovative initiatives such as the quota for ships that use sustainable fuels,' highlighted Lula. Panama put into service in 2016 a third lane that allows the passage of vessels with more than triple the cargo of the centenary locks, a project with a cost of more than 5,000 million dollars and that multiplied the income and strategic value of the route. The Panama Canal connects 180 maritime routes and 1,920 ports in 170 countries. Its main users are the United States, China, and Japan.
