Legally, the previous agreement is now void. Mulino also questioned the actions of the outgoing company. He stated that there was no consistency between what they claimed and what they did in the country. He added that, in his opinion, that company 'made and unmade' things in Panama for decades. Diplomatically, the head of state reported that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected certain statements related to the case. He went further and stated that he told them that no one will remove Panama from its ports. He emphasized that the government will not allow the sovereignty over port administration to be questioned. This issue arose after the Supreme Court's ruling, which declared the concession contract granted to Panama Ports Company (PPC) unconstitutional. Thus, the concession to operate the ports of Balboa and Cristóbal was nullified. In its ruling, the court concluded that the contract law was 'detrimental to the interests of the community' and violated public order and the Constitution. The intention was to find a way out of the conflict over port operations. According to his explanation, those statements were formally denied. The president confirmed that for a year they evaluated different scenarios, including the possibility that the court would declare the contract unconstitutional. He acknowledged that this was the most complex scenario. He stated that, given that outcome, the government prepared to act in what it considers the best interest of the country and port operations. But he assured that on the other side, there was no openness. 'The only thing we found was arrogance,' the president said in his weekly conference. The decision became final after its publication in the Official Gazette on February 23. He also specified that after the declaration, it must be understood that there is no valid concession. We need them more. Mulino: 'At 11 or 12, everyone is frenzied and someone gets killed'. This message, he indicated, was conveyed to the ambassador of China in Panama, who serves as the official contact with the Chinese government. President José Raúl Mulino said that for almost all of 2025, his team held meetings with senior executives of CK Hutchison Holdings in New York and Washington.
