BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier begins a five-day trip through three Latin American countries on Monday. The first stop will be Panama. Steinmeier is received there in the capital Panama City by President José Raúl Mulino. After the political talks, he wants to look at a lock on the Panama Canal. It is the first time that a German head of state has visited the country, which lies on the narrow land bridge between Central and South America. Other stops on the trip include Guatemala and Mexico.
According to the Federal President’s Office, Steinmeier wants to help expand the partnership with the three states. At a time when the rules of world politics are changing rapidly, he wants to specifically seek contact with middle powers that, like Germany, are sticking to the rules-based world order. The heavyweight is Mexico, with which Germany has a strategic partnership. The G20 state is Germany’s most important trading partner in Latin America.
Panama is politically interesting because it currently has a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. The state with around 4.5 million inhabitants has felt the harsher climate of world politics particularly clearly in recent months because US President Donald Trump ultimately demanded more influence over the Panama Canal. He threatened several times to take back the important waterway because the United States was being treated unfairly.
The canal was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers at the beginning of the 20th century. On December 31, 1999, the United States handed over administration to Panama. Last year, the government of Panama finally allowed the USA to station soldiers around the canal./sk/DP/he
