Latest news with #PanamaCanalAuthority
Economist
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Economist
Panamanian farmers versus global shipping—and Donald Trump
In A remote part of Panama, where motorised canoe is the main mode of transport, a pristine asphalt road portends the arrival of a project unwanted by many locals. In February the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) approved a $1.6bn project that will see the Indio river dammed, flooding the lands of 630 families who live in the basin. In May, dozens of farmers waving Panamanian flags took to the Indio in their canoes to protest against the decision. 'This land is our heritage and our livelihood,' says Olegario Cedeño, a coffee and plantain farmer. 'They haven't given us any chance to debate this project.'
The Star
05-07-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Panama dam project sparks fury
Vicente, one of Olegario's children, standing in his canoe in a river near the small town Boca del Uracillo, in Cocle province, Panama. — AFP MAGDALENA Martinez has lived next to the Indio River all her life, but a planned dam aimed at shielding the Panama Canal from drought now threatens to swallow her home. The 49-year-old is one of hundreds of residents opposed to a new artificial lake that would feed the vital interoceanic waterway at the centre of diplomatic tensions with the United States. 'I feel sick about this threat we're facing,' said Martinez, who shares her wooden house with a metal roof with her husband and five of her 13 children in Boca de Uracillo. 'We don't know where we're going to go,' she said. Martinez's entire family was born in the small village surrounded by lush mountains, whose residents earn a living growing crops, including cassava and corn, and raising animals. The community says it is determined to prevent its homes being sacrificed to help the world's multi-billion dollar global shipping industry. A sign that reads 'Rivers Without Dams' hangs in the small town of Limon. 'We have to fight to the end,' said 44-year-old resident Yturbide Sanchez. Hundreds of flag-waving villagers in motorised canoes navigated the Indio River last month to protest the planned dam, which would force thousands of families to relocate. 'We don't want them to take away the river water – we need it,' said 48-year-old farmer Ariel Troya. 'If the project goes ahead, it will take away our entire future,' Troya added. The Panama Canal Authority (ACP), the autonomous public entity that operates the waterway, decided to build the reservoir to cope with severe droughts like the one seen in 2023, which forced a drastic reduction in ship traffic. The century-old shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans relies on once-abundant rainwater stored in two artificial lakes that also supply drinking water. Used mainly by customers from the United States, China and Japan, the canal operates by using a system of locks to raise and lower ships and releases millions of litres of fresh water for each vessel that passes. The planned new reservoir covering around 4,600ha would supply water through a 9km tunnel to one of the existing lakes. The project 'meets a need identified a long time ago: it's the water of the future,' said Karina Vergara, an environmental and social manager at the ACP. Work is expected to begin in 2027 and be completed by 2032, with an investment of approximately US$1.6bil. Of that, US$400mil is earmarked to compensate and relocate around 2,500 people from several villages. An aerial view of the village of La Boca de Uracillo. The village will be destroyed when the dam is built. — AFP 'We have a firm commitment to dialogue and reaching agreements' with those affected, Vergara said. If the reservoir isn't built, 'we'll regret it in 15 years,' she said. Civil society groups warn that in total around 12,000 people could be affected by the project – which has the backing of President Jose Raul Mulino – since it would affect the entire Indio River basin. The 80km-long Panama Canal handles 6% of global maritime trade and is the engine of the Panamanian economy. It is also at the centre of a diplomatic row due to US President Donald Trump's repeated threats to 'take back' the waterway – which was handed over to Panama in 1999 – from alleged Chinese control. In the village of Limon, about 15 minutes from Boca de Uracillo by motorised canoe, residents also refuse to abandon their homes. 'We're not going to leave. They'll have to remove us by force,' said Maricel Sanchez, a 25-year-old university student. Villagers are relying on their lands to see them through retirement, farmer Olegario Cedeno said in the house where he lives with his wife and three children, surrounded by chickens, hens and parrots. 'We will give our lives in this fight.' — AFP
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Panama Canal Chief Warns $23B Port Deal Poses Risks to its Neutrality
The Panama Canal Authority's lead official is the latest stakeholder to express his doubts about the sale of two ports on both sides of the waterway. Ricaurte Vásquez Morales, administrator at the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), told the Financial Times the $23 billion deal that would shift the ports into the hands of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and BlackRock could potentially put the canal's own neutrality at risk. More from Sourcing Journal Panama Canal Sees Post-Drought Spike in Container Shipping Transits Staud Said to Bring On a New Investor Panama Ports Buyers Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place 'There is a potential risk of capacity concentration if the deal comes the way it is structured as we understand right now,' Vásquez said. 'If there is a significant level of concentration on terminal operators belonging to an integrated or one single shipping company, it will be at the expense of Panama's competitiveness in the market and inconsistent with neutrality.' The Panama Canal operates as a neutral passage for ships representing all countries. Treaties signed during the Carter administration in 1977 established its neutrality, and ensured that the then-U.S.-controlled waterway would gradually be returned to Panama by Dec. 31, 1999. President Donald Trump has made overtures challenging the canal's neutrality, with claims that he wants the U.S. to 'take back' the trade artery on the grounds that it is allegedly under Chinese control. While China does not control the canal, Washington had wider concerns about the country's influence on the waterway. The sale of the Balboa and Cristobal ports by owner Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings was considered a win for the Trump administration, since the port operator's ownership of the ports was classified as a national security risk. But that deal has been scrutinized left and right, and has yet to get approval from the Panamanian government. The Chinese government, as well as state-owned media in the country, had spoken out against the deal, with reports saying President Xi Jinping was furious that CK Hutchison went forward with the sale. Following those reports, China's antitrust regulator, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), opened a probe into the deal. That investigation has resulted in the parties deciding to amend several parts of the initial deal to try and appease both Trump and Xi, an FT report said. Hutchison, which would be selling off more than 40 non-Panama ports to MSC and BlackRock in the deal, floated the idea of potentially selling off some or all of its 10 remaining ports in China in a separate sale. The regulator had already warned Hutchison against splitting the Panama ports from the original deal altogether as a means to circumvent antitrust review. Along with government regulators, supply chain stakeholders have shown their displeasure with the potential acquisition in that it would give MSC, already the world's largest ocean carrier, a leading market share in port terminal operations. Vásquez noted that the deal has essentially pitted container shipping operators further against each other for space. 'This has become a significant battleground on transshipment capacity,' Vásquez said, noting that some at the ACP were worried the $23 billion transaction would cost it some container traffic if Hutchison's customers moved elsewhere. Vásquez added that the canal should use the ports deal as an opportunity to become a terminal operator itself by reactivating a project to build a terminal in the Port of Corozal at the Pacific end of the canal, according to FT. As Vásquez and the ACP keep an eye on the situation, the authority will itself be on the radar of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) in the U.S. as it plans its infrastructure projects. 'They're doing a very efficient job. What we're watching there is what's going to happen when they have a drought and they have reduced slots to go through there and then how those slots are allocated,' said FMC chairman Louis Sola, in a Monday briefing with the Port of Long Beach, calling it the agency's 'number one priority' at the canal. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which helped build and maintain the canal, is currently assisting the ACP on water management practices, according to Sola. The record drought throughout the second half of 2023 prompted the ACP's decision to build a new reservoir in the Indio River watershed to mitigate impacts from future climate conditions. To diversify its business lines, Vásquez also said the authority was considering building a pipeline along the length of the canal to carry up to 1 million barrels per day of liquefied petroleum gas.
France 24
21-05-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Villagers vow to fight new Panama Canal reservoir 'to the end'
The 49-year-old is one of hundreds of residents opposed to a new artificial lake that would feed the vital interoceanic waterway at the center of diplomatic tensions with the United States. "I feel sick about this threat we're facing," said Martinez, who shares her wooden house with a metal roof with her husband and five of her 13 children in Boca de Uracillo. "We don't know where we're going to go," she told AFP. Martinez's entire family was born in the small village surrounded by lush mountains, whose residents earn a living growing crops including cassava and corn and raising animals. The community says it is determined to prevent its homes being sacrificed to help the world's multi-billion dollar global shipping industry. "We have to fight to the end," said 44-year-old resident Yturbide Sanchez. Last week, hundreds of flag-waving villagers in motorized canoes navigated the Indio River to protest the planned dam, which would force thousands of families to relocate. "We don't want them to take away the river water -- we need it," 48-year-old farmer Ariel Troya told AFP. "If the project goes ahead, it will take away our entire future," Troya added. 'The future' The Panama Canal Authority (ACP), the autonomous public entity that operates the waterway, decided to build the reservoir to cope with severe droughts like the one seen in 2023, which forced a drastic reduction in ship traffic. The century-old shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans relies on once-abundant rainwater stored in two artificial lakes that also supply drinking water. Used mainly by customers from the United States, China and Japan, the canal has a system of locks to raise and lower ships and releases millions of liters of fresh water for each vessel that passes. The planned new reservoir covering around 4,600 hectares (11,400 acres) would supply water through a nine-kilometer (5.6-mile) tunnel to one of the existing lakes. The project "meets a need identified a long time ago: it's the water of the future," Karina Vergara, an environmental and social manager at the ACP, told AFP. Work is expected to begin in 2027 and be completed by 2032, with an investment of approximately $1.6 billion. Of that, $400 million is earmarked to compensate and relocate around 2,500 people from several villages. "We have a firm commitment to dialogue and reaching agreements" with those affected, Vergara said. If the reservoir isn't built, "we'll regret it in 15 years," she said. 'Give our lives' Civil society groups warn that in total around 12,000 people could be affected by the project -- which has the backing of President Jose Raul Mulino -- since it would affect the entire Indio River basin. The 80-kilometer-long Panama Canal handles six percent of global maritime trade and is the engine of the Panamanian economy. It is also at the center of a diplomatic row due to US President Donald Trump's repeated threats to "take back" the waterway -- which was handed over to Panama in 1999 -- from alleged Chinese control. In the village of Limon, about 15 minutes from Boca de Uracillo by motorized canoe, residents also refuse to abandon their homes. "We're not going to leave. They'll have to remove us by force," said Maricel Sanchez, a 25-year-old university student. Villagers are relying on their lands to see them through retirement, farmer Olegario Cedeno said in the house where he lives with his wife and three children, surrounded by chickens, hens and parrots. "We will give our lives in this fight." © 2025 AFP
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Villagers vow to fight new Panama Canal reservoir 'to the end'
Magdalena Martinez has lived next to the Indio River all her life, but a planned dam aimed at shielding the Panama Canal from drought now threatens to swallow her home. The 49-year-old is one of hundreds of residents opposed to a new artificial lake that would feed the vital interoceanic waterway at the center of diplomatic tensions with the United States. "I feel sick about this threat we're facing," said Martinez, who shares her wooden house with a metal roof with her husband and five of her 13 children in Boca de Uracillo. "We don't know where we're going to go," she told AFP. Martinez's entire family was born in the small village surrounded by lush mountains, whose residents earn a living growing crops including cassava and corn and raising animals. The community says it is determined to prevent its homes being sacrificed to help the world's multi-billion dollar global shipping industry. "We have to fight to the end," said 44-year-old resident Yturbide Sanchez. Last week, hundreds of flag-waving villagers in motorized canoes navigated the Indio River to protest the planned dam, which would force thousands of families to relocate. "We don't want them to take away the river water -- we need it," 48-year-old farmer Ariel Troya told AFP. "If the project goes ahead, it will take away our entire future," Troya added. - 'The future' - The Panama Canal Authority (ACP), the autonomous public entity that operates the waterway, decided to build the reservoir to cope with severe droughts like the one seen in 2023, which forced a drastic reduction in ship traffic. The century-old shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans relies on once-abundant rainwater stored in two artificial lakes that also supply drinking water. Used mainly by customers from the United States, China and Japan, the canal has a system of locks to raise and lower ships and releases millions of liters of fresh water for each vessel that passes. The planned new reservoir covering around 4,600 hectares (11,400 acres) would supply water through a nine-kilometer (5.6-mile) tunnel to one of the existing lakes. The project "meets a need identified a long time ago: it's the water of the future," Karina Vergara, an environmental and social manager at the ACP, told AFP. Work is expected to begin in 2027 and be completed by 2032, with an investment of approximately $1.6 billion. Of that, $400 million is earmarked to compensate and relocate around 2,500 people from several villages. "We have a firm commitment to dialogue and reaching agreements" with those affected, Vergara said. If the reservoir isn't built, "we'll regret it in 15 years," she said. - 'Give our lives' - Civil society groups warn that in total around 12,000 people could be affected by the project -- which has the backing of President Jose Raul Mulino -- since it would affect the entire Indio River basin. The 80-kilometer-long Panama Canal handles six percent of global maritime trade and is the engine of the Panamanian economy. It is also at the center of a diplomatic row due to US President Donald Trump's repeated threats to "take back" the waterway -- which was handed over to Panama in 1999 -- from alleged Chinese control. In the village of Limon, about 15 minutes from Boca de Uracillo by motorized canoe, residents also refuse to abandon their homes. "We're not going to leave. They'll have to remove us by force," said Maricel Sanchez, a 25-year-old university student. Villagers are relying on their lands to see them through retirement, farmer Olegario Cedeno said in the house where he lives with his wife and three children, surrounded by chickens, hens and parrots. "We will give our lives in this fight." jjr/fj/dr/sla
