Trump names a Miami-Dade official to serve as Panama's ambassador.
Trump names a Miami-Dade official to serve as Panama's ambassador.
Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera was nominated by US President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday, December 25, to be the ambassador to Panama. Trump called Cabrera "a fierce fighter for America First principles" who has played a key role in supporting global alliances and economic progress.
"Very few people have as much knowledge of Latin American politics as Kevin - He will do an AMAZING job representing our Nation's interests in Panama!" he wrote in a post made on Truth Social. Trump made his choice for ambassador public after threatening to retake the US's control of the Panama Canal, which it had managed for decades before ceding to Panama in 1999.
The US has maintained diplomatic ties with the Central American nation since 1903, but Trump claimed that they are "ripping us off on the Panama Canal, far beyond their wildest dreams."
On Wednesday, Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social that Chinese troops were running the canal illegally and "always making certain that the United States puts in Billions of Dollars in'repair' money but will have absolutely nothing to say about 'anything.'"
According to Panama's president, Jose Raul Mulino, China had no say in how the canal was run.
Although CK Hutchison Holdings, a Hong Kong-based company, has long operated two ports on the canal's Caribbean and Pacific entrances, China does not own or operate the canal.
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