Did Panama allow American ships to use the channel for free?

The Panamanian President Jose Raul Moulino denied the claims of the US State Department that Panama agreed to allow US warships to pass through the Panama channel for free.

Mulino said that neither he nor his government have the authority to waive the transit fees.

Mulino said that he told US Secretary of Defense Beit Higseth yesterday that he could not specify the channel transit fees or to exclude any of them and that he was surprised by the signal of the US State Department statement etc. late Wednesday evening (according to Panama’s time).

“I completely reject that statement issued yesterday,” Mulino added at his weekly press conference.

He indicated that he had informed the US Secretary of Defense, in a phone call on Wednesday afternoon, that he had no government to have the authority to exempt the channel fees, determined by the Panama Channel Authority.

The Benami president said that he had asked Panama’s ambassador to Washington to refute the US State Department statement.

The US State Department said in a post on the X platform that the Panama government “agreed not to impose fees on the US government ships to cross the Panama channel, which provides millions of dollars annually to the US government.”

For its part, the Panama Channel Authority said in a post on the X platform that it “did not make any change in the fees,” stressing its desire to engage in discussions with the United States on the passage of American warships.