BERLIN: German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Tuesday criticized Donald Trump’s “unacceptable” pledge to seize the Panama Canal, which the returning US president repeated in his inaugural address.
Baerbock was asked in an interview about Trump’s comments Monday on the waterway and on his desire to control Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark.
“Any threat against a NATO member or other states is of course completely unacceptable,” Baerbock told German broadcaster RBB.
Baerbock however said that Germany needed to “play it smart,” when responding to the president’s statements.
“It’s not about how President Trump says something... but we should look at why he says something,” Baerbock said.
The focus should be on “what interests are behind (Trump’s statements) ... and then standing up for our own interests,” she said.
In the case of the Panama Canal, the message was about China “investing massively in ports and other important infrastructure around the world,” Baerbock said.
In his inaugural address on Monday, Trump complained that China was effectively “operating” the key trading route, which the United States transferred to Panamanian control in 1999.
“We didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama. And we’re taking it back,” Trump said.
It was not the first time that Trump has expressed his intention to reestablish US control over the canal, with the president repeatedly refusing to rule out using military means.
Germany has no illusions about Trump as he begins his second term in office, Baerbock said.
“The USA is one of our most important allies. We want to and will continue to work closely together,” she said.
“But we have positioned ourselves more intensively and even more strongly strategically.”
Germany calls Trump’s vow to take Panama Canal ‘unacceptable’
https://arab.news/gm8us
Germany calls Trump’s vow to take Panama Canal ‘unacceptable’
- ‘Any threat against a NATO member or other states is of course completely unacceptable’
- ‘It’s not about how President Trump says something... but we should look at why he says something’
Venezuela swears in 5,600 troops after US military build-up
- American forces have carried out deadly strikes on more than 20 vessels, killing at least 87
CARACAS: The Venezuelan army swore in 5,600 soldiers on Saturday, as the United States cranks up military pressure on the oil-producing country.
President Nicolas Maduro has called for stepped-up military recruitment after the United States deployed a fleet of warships and the world’s largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean under the pretext of combating drug trafficking.
American forces have carried out deadly strikes on more than 20 vessels, killing at least 87.
Washington has accused Maduro of leading the alleged “Cartel of the Suns,” which it declared a terrorist organization last month.
Maduro asserts the American deployment aims to overthrow him and seize the country’s oil reserves.
“Under no circumstances will we allow an invasion by an imperialist force,” Col. Gabriel Rendon said Saturday during a ceremony at Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military complex, in Caracas.
According to official figures, Venezuela has around 200,000 troops and an additional 200,000 police officers.
A former opposition governor died in prison on Saturday where he had been detained on charges of terrorism and incitement, a rights group said.
Alfredo Diaz was at least the sixth opposition member to die in prison since November 2024.
They had been arrested following protests sparked by last July’s disputed election, when Maduro claimed a third term despite accusations of fraud.
The protests resulted in 28 deaths and around 2,400 arrests, with nearly 2,000 people released since then.
Diaz, governor of Nueva Esparta from 2017 to 2021, “had been imprisoned and held in isolation for a year; only one visit from his daughter was allowed,” said Alfredo Romero, director of the NGO Foro Penal, which defends political prisoners.
The group says there are at least 887 political prisoners in Venezuela.
Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado condemned the deaths of political prisoners in Venezuela during “post-electoral repression.”
“The circumstances of these deaths — which include denial of medical care, inhumane conditions, isolation, torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment — reveal a sustained pattern of state repression,” Machado said in a joint statement with Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, the opposition candidate she believes won the election.
