After Taunting Panama, Trump Taps Ambassador For The Country

Donald Trump tapped Miami-Dade Commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera to serve as ambassador to Panama on Wednesday, amid the president-elect’s repeated threats to take back the Panama Canal.

“I am pleased to announce that Kevin Marino Cabrera will serve as the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Panama, a Country that is ripping us off on the Panama Canal, far beyond their wildest dreams,” Trump announced on Truth Social on Wednesday afternoon, adding: “Few understand Latin American politics as well as Kevin.”

Cabrera, who served in Trump’s 2020 Florida reelection campaign as state director, also serves as vice chair of Miami-Dade’s International Trade Consortium.

Trump’s selection of Cabrera comes after the president-elect issued several threats to retake the Panama Canal in recent days, claiming the United States is being “ripped off” and that U.S. vessels are charged excessive fees for passage at the key waterway.

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino disputed Trump’s claims on Sunday and emphasized the canal would remain under Panama’s control, saying: “The sovereignty and independence of our country is non-negotiable.”

The canal, a critical trade route originally built by the United States, has been under Panama’s control since 1999 under the terms of two treaties signed by the Carter administration and then-Panamanian dictator Omar Torrijos in 1977 during a period of heightened tension over the area. The Torrijos-Carter Treaties established that Panama would gain full control of the waterway that connects that Atlantic and Pacific in 1999 and the U.S. would have the authority to defend it from threats to its neutrality — but analysts don’t believe the treaties provide any legal basis for the U.S. to retake control of the waterway.

The position is subject to Senate confirmation.