Panama president says US Embassy threatened to cancel visas over ties to China
Published:Thursday | October 16, 2025 | 3:22 PM
PANAMA CITY (AP) — Panama President José Raúl Mulino said Thursday that someone at the US Embassy has been threatening to cancel the visas of Panamanian officials as the Trump administration pressures Panama to limit its ties to China.
Responding to a question at his weekly news conference, Mulino said without offering evidence that an official at the US Embassy is “threatening to take visas,” adding that such actions are ”not coherent with the good relationship I aspire to maintain with the United States.” He did not name the official.
The US Embassy in Panama did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Trump administration has previously declined to comment on individual visa decisions.
But in September, the US State Department said in a statement that the US was committed to countering China’s influence in Central America and would restrict visas for people who maintained relationships with China’s Communist Party or undermined democracy in the region on behalf of China.
Earlier this week, the Trump administration revoked the visas of six foreigners deemed by US officials to have made derisive comments or made light of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last month.
Similar cases have surfaced recently in the region.
In April, former Costa Rica President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias said the US had cancelled his visa.
In July, Vanessa Castro, vice president of Costa Rica’s Congress, said that the US Embassy told her the US had revoked her visa citing alleged contacts with the Chinese Communist Party.
Panama has become especially sensitive to the US-China tensions because of the strategically important Panama Canal.
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