Panama’s president, José Raúl Mulino, has publicly accused the United States of applying intense diplomatic pressure on his government, including threats to revoke visas of Panamanian officials, as Washington seeks to curb the growing influence of Chinese companies in the Central American nation. The startling allegations, made at an explosive press conference on October 17, 2025, have thrust Panama into the center of a widening geopolitical contest between the world’s two largest economies.
According to multiple reports, including coverage by Upworthy and statements from the president himself, Mulino said that the U.S. Embassy in Panama had threatened to cancel the visas of Panamanian officials due to the country’s ties with China. “Someone at the U.S. Embassy is threatening to take visas,” Mulino stated, as reported by Upworthy and confirmed in a press briefing. He added that such actions were “not coherent with the good relationship I aspire to maintain with the United States.” Mulino did not name the U.S. official involved, nor did he provide documentary evidence of the threats, but the charge alone has ignited debate in diplomatic circles and the Panamanian press.
The timing and tone of Mulino’s remarks underscore the tension simmering beneath the surface of U.S.-Panama relations. The U.S. has long considered Panama—home to the vital Panama Canal—a strategic partner in the region. But China’s growing economic footprint, including major infrastructure contracts and investment in logistics hubs, has drawn Washington’s wary eye. Mulino, who took office earlier this year, warned the U.S. not to “drag Panama into its bilateral tensions with China,” making clear that his administration would resist becoming a pawn in the broader rivalry between Beijing and Washington.
“We are not a piece on anyone’s chessboard,” Mulino said, pushing back against the perception that Panama’s sovereignty could be compromised by outside powers. The president’s comments reflect a wider anxiety among smaller nations caught between competing global giants, each eager to secure influence in Latin America through a mix of economic incentives and diplomatic muscle.
This episode is not occurring in a vacuum. Just days earlier, the Trump administration revoked the visas of at least 50 Mexican politicians and government officials as part of a sweeping crackdown against drug cartels and their suspected political allies, according to Reuters and Fox News Digital. Those affected included members of Mexico’s ruling Morena Party, led by President Claudia Sheinbaum, as well as officials from other parties. Baja California Governor Marina del Pilar Ávila publicly acknowledged losing her U.S. visa but firmly denied any links to organized crime.
The U.S. State Department, while declining to confirm the specifics of the report, emphasized that visas are “a privilege, not a right” and can be revoked for a variety of reasons that violate U.S. law or run counter to American national interests. A department official told Fox News Digital that the Trump administration has maintained a “good working relationship” with the Sheinbaum government and intends to continue advancing its “America First” foreign policy agenda. The visa revocations, the official said, are part of a broader zero-tolerance approach to drug trafficking—a campaign promise that has seen U.S. military strikes on suspected drug boats, many reportedly originating from Venezuela.
But the Trump administration’s use of visa revocations as a diplomatic tool has not stopped at Mexico. In September 2025, the U.S. revoked the visa of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, citing what officials described as “reckless and incendiary actions” during a demonstration in New York City where Petro protested against Israel and its prime minister. Petro, for his part, called for a criminal investigation into President Donald Trump and other officials over deadly U.S. strikes on boats in the Caribbean—strikes which the White House insists targeted drug smugglers.
The crackdown has extended further still, with more than 20 judges in Brazil and 14 political and business figures in Costa Rica, including former president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oscar Arias, losing their U.S. visas. According to Tony Wayne, who served as U.S. ambassador to Mexico from 2011 to 2015, “The Trump administration is finding new ways to exert more pressure on Mexico.” The strategy, Wayne suggests, marks a new front in the so-called “drug war”—one that targets political networks as aggressively as it does traffickers themselves.
Indeed, the White House issued a memo to lawmakers on September 30, 2025, alerting them that the U.S. is now engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug smugglers following several military strikes against alleged drug vessels from Venezuela in the Caribbean. Earlier this year, in February, President Trump designated notorious drug cartel groups like Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa cartel as foreign terrorist organizations, further expanding the legal and diplomatic toolkit available to U.S. officials.
For Panama, the sudden spotlight on visa threats and diplomatic pressure comes at a sensitive moment. The country has, in recent years, deepened its commercial and infrastructure ties with China, awarding major contracts to Chinese firms for projects ranging from port expansions to digital infrastructure. While these moves have brought investment and jobs, they have also raised eyebrows in Washington, where officials fear Beijing’s growing influence in a region traditionally seen as within the U.S. sphere.
Mulino’s response has been to assert Panama’s independence and to caution against external interference. His warning to the U.S.—not to involve Panama in its disputes with China—signals a desire to walk a careful line between the two powers. “Such threats are not coherent with the good relationship I aspire to maintain with the United States,” he reiterated, seeking to balance the demands of a complex geopolitical environment with Panama’s own national interests.
As the Trump administration continues to wield visa revocations as a lever of foreign policy, questions linger about the long-term impact on regional alliances and the diplomatic standing of the U.S. in Latin America. The tactic has certainly rattled officials from Mexico to Colombia and now, it seems, Panama. Whether it will succeed in curbing the influence of rival powers or simply drive affected countries to seek new partners remains to be seen.
For now, Panama’s president has made it clear: his country will not be pressured into choosing sides, and any attempt to do so risks undermining the very relationships Washington hopes to preserve. The world will be watching closely as this high-stakes diplomatic chess match unfolds.
