Panamanian Vice Minister of Multilateral Affairs and Cooperation, Carlos Guevara Mann, asked the Organization of American States (OAS) to support his country’s sovereign rights over the Panama Canal .
During his speech at the OAS Special General Assembly in Washington, D.C., Guevara Mann said that, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Panama’s sole administration of the interoceanic waterway, “we resoundingly declare that the Canal is an inalienable asset of the Panamanian State and will continue to be so for the benefit of global trade and international navigation.”
The diplomat recalled that the Torrijos-Carter Treaties were deposited at the OAS, allowing for the “sovereign rights of the Panamanian State in the Panama Canal to be finally recognized, as well as the one establishing the waterway’s neutrality regime.”
“We ask the OAS to reiterate its strong and unanimous support for our sovereign rights, for which we appeal to the OAS Charter and the principles set forth above,” the official said.
According to a press release provided by the Panamanian Foreign Ministry, Guevara Mann also stated that “the OAS is called upon to respond forcefully to attempts to undermine these principles through unilateral actions that inevitably work to the detriment of less-advantaged countries, with harmful consequences for their peoples.”
The Panamanian deputy minister made these statements after Colombian Ambassador Laura Gil was elected OAS Assistant Secretary General for the 2025-2030 term, becoming the first woman to hold the position since the organization’s founding in 1948.
“This event, which we consider historic, speaks highly of the OAS and provides compelling evidence of its commitment, as well as that of its member states, to equality and the empowerment of women for the benefit of our peoples,” Guevara Mann emphasized.
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