Panama: movement, but is it enough to placate the US?

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I have seen cases play out, before my eyes, when something didn’t go the “JC’s” way, he would immediately look around the office, for some Prole to dump on.

Steve

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Good news, that, although the Chinese company claimed it had nothing to do with current politics.

DB2

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Of course, they aren’t going to say they were bullied into selling. But is it “enough”? Remember the run-up to the invasion of Iraq?

#43: give up your WMDs

Saddam: got rid of them long ago

#43: not good enough… give up your WMDs

Saddam: got rid of them long ago, here is the documentation.

#43: not good enough…give up your WMDs’

UN: we are searching Iraqi facilities. The Iraqis are cooperating. They don’t have diddly.

#43: not good enough. Saddam hasn’t given up his WMDs. UN get out of the way. We’re invading.

epilogue: didn’t find diddly. Saddam had gotten rid of everything years earlier, just like he said.

Steve

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Seems it wasn’t enough. In the SOTU tonight, TIG threatened Panama again, and declared the US will take back the canal. He also said he would take Greenland “one way or another”.

But no mention of Canada?

Steve

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I don’t think we’ll see Marines landing in Panama, but one never knows.

DB2

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China Threatens to Block Panama Ports Deal Unless Its Shipping Giant Is Part of It
https://www.wsj.com/business/logistics/china-threatens-to-block-panama-ports-deal-unless-its-shipping-giant-is-part-of-it-a88fd77d?mod=hp_lead_pos8
China’s government is threatening to block a deal that would transfer ownership of dozens of seaports to Western investors if Cosco, China’s largest shipping company, doesn’t get a stake.

The proposed sale includes two ports at the Panama Canal and more than 40 others around the world, all owned by Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison.

China is pushing for state-owned Cosco to be an equal partner and shareholder of the ports with BlackRock and Mediterranean Shipping Co., a containership operator, according to people familiar with the deal talks. BlackRock and MSC in March reached a preliminary agreement to buy the ports in a deal valued at nearly $23 billion.

Now, BlackRock, MSC and Hutchison all are open to Cosco’s taking a stake, the people familiar with the talks said.

DB2

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Ssshhh don’t remind Jeffrey.

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Thanks for the update. Just last night, I was noticing the belligerence toward Panama and Greenland had gone away.

Will we see the US regime demand a “golden share” of the ports company too?

Steve

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https://www.wsj.com/business/logistics/panamas-high-court-rules-against-hong-kong-firm-running-canal-ports-714c23c8?mod=hp_lead_pos4
The Supreme Court of Panama has annulled a contract for a Hong Kong company to operate two ports at either end of the Panama Canal, handing President Trump a victory for his security ambitions in the Western Hemisphere and denting China’s influence in the region.

The high court said the terms under which CK Hutchison runs the ports of Balboa on the Pacific Coast and Cristóbal on the Atlantic side were unconstitutional, setting the stage for the company’s departure from the port facilities…

Once the license is revoked, the government aims to ensure the continuity of port operations by hiring APM Terminals, a unit of shipping firm A.P. Moeller-Maersk, to manage the facilities until it opens a bidding process with new license terms, possibly separating the two ports, said Panama’s pro-American President José Raúl Mulino.

DB2

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