Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is attending the 2025 Central American Security Conference (CENTSEC) in Panama April 8- 10. With the Trump administration's focus on bringing the Panama Canal back under US control, Hegseth may find himself in a lion's den of disagreement and antagonism. However, as a seasoned advocate for US national security interests, he is no stranger to controversy.
Conveying the Trump Message in Panama
Hegseth will no doubt pick up where Secretary of State Marco Rubio left off after his visit in February. Rubio stressed the Trump administration's strong objection to the Panama Canal ports of entry and exit being controlled by the Chinese through the Hong Kong-based company CK Hutchinson Holdings. According to Fox News:
"China's presence in the canal zone allows it to block US access at will. That could mean in the outbreak of war in the Indo-Pacific, it could prevent the US Navy from surging ships from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the canal. However, the canal could also be used as leverage for China in its push for Trump to alleviate tariffs."
Hegseth likely will make the argument at CENTSEC that Beijing's potential to interrupt transit is a Central American security issue. Trump has been accused at times of being more bluster than bite in foreign policy dealings, but this is not one of those times. The Daily Caller reported that the president has instructed US Southern Command to consider several options: "Trump reiterated his pledge to reclaim the canal in his joint address to Congress Mar. 6, saying his administration would regain control of the vital shipping lane to 'further enhance our national security.'"
Last month, there seemed to be a solution to the problem. With its subsidiaries Global Infrastructure Partners and Terminal Investment Limited, the US consortium BlackRock reported it would purchase a 90% ownership in Panama Ports Company from CK Hutchinson for an estimated $23 billion. This acquisition would have put the strategic Balboa and Cristobal ports under a US-based corporation's control, aligning the Panama Canal's management more with the Trump administration's overall view of US geopolitical interests.
However, despite China's claim of non-interference in the business transactions of Hong Kong-based companies, Beijing's long arm of control has the deal in reach. "Chinese authorities have begun looking into CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd.'s sale of its overseas port businesses," Bloomberg observed. "Several Chinese agencies, including the State Administration of Market Regulation, have been instructed by senior state leaders to study the deal for any potential security breaches or antitrust violations." Currently, the BlackRock canal purchase is in limbo with little movement toward closing the deal.
Regardless, there are more Central American strategic issues than just the canal. In a press release, the Department of Defense stated, "The Secretary will meet with partner-nation senior civilian, military, and security leadership in a series of bilateral meetings that will drive ongoing efforts to strengthen our partnerships with Panama and other Central American nations toward our shared vision for a peaceful and secure Western Hemisphere." While this may sound a lot like boilerplate, when the statement is parsed just a little, there is much more to it.
Countering China’s Influence a Top Priority
During its first two months, the Trump administration has made it clear that South and Central America are foreign policy priorities. While the region was mostly unattended by the previous president, the Trump national security team is working in coordination to blunt the People's Republic of China's (PRC) invasion of influence among America's southern neighbors. Consequently, the bilateral meetings between the Hegseth delegation and conference attendees will be significant in establishing a mutually beneficial defense agenda against the PRC's continuing presence. The talks will likely consider threats common to all the attendees, such as illegal migration, transnational crime, and drug and human trafficking. Additionally, in view of the pervasive intrusion of China into the region, the United States wants to be an alternative influence and defense presence.
Hegseth has an opportunity to persuade Central American colleagues that the United States is a more trustworthy and reliable partner than the Communist Chinese Party. Such an argument would be consistent with what the secretary explained in his first NATO meetings. He clarified that the US focus was moving to a counter-China and away from a Euro-centric foreign policy. Underpinning the change in direction, Hegseth will not attend every Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Brussels as his predecessor did. Prioritizing the agenda for the CENTSEC meetings is consistent with counter-China strategies as higher imperative than European commitments. The PRC looms as a persistent and growing threat the United States must address in its own neighborhood.
The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliate.
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