(L-R): Rubio and Panamanian President Jose Mulino.
The United States has a treaty obligation to protect the Panama Canal if it comes under attack.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this, amid controversy regarding whether U.S. Navy ships can transit the Panama Canal for free.
Rubio was referring to a treaty signed by the U.S. and Panama in 1977.
He said this during a news conference in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic.
He earlier held talks with Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino in Panama City on Sunday.
Panama has however described the claims as “lies”.
“I find it absurd that we would have to pay fees to transit a zone that we are obligated to protect in a time of conflict.
“Those are our expectations. … They were clearly understood in those conversations,” he stressed.
The top U.S. diplomat told reporters that he respected Panama’s democratically elected government.
He said that he also acknowledged that it has “a process of laws and procedures that it needed to follow.
“The treaty obligation would have to be enforced by the armed forces of the United States, particularly the U.S. Navy,” he said.
