Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro met Panama’s President, Jose Raul Mulino, at Heron’s palace in Panama City. Two main subjects dominated the agenda, as Petro and Mulino discussed the importance of defending Panama’s sovereignty, and cooperation between Colombia and its northern neighbors in security matters, especially relating to immigration.
Crucially, both leaders confirmed both countries’ commitment to strengthening their historical ties, highlighting the mutual interest that exists for deepening cooperation between Panama and Colombia.
According to a statement from the President’s office, both Petro and Mulino highlighted the need to increase educational-cultural, as well as scientific-technical cooperation between both countries.
Petro pledges Colombian support to Panama’s sovereignty
Panamanian sovereignty has been an issue that has dominated the regional agenda since the US 2024 Presidential campaign. Indeed, one of the campaign promises made by President Trump was to “recover” the Panama Canal. Through his campaign and his presidency, this rhetoric has proven to be consistent, as the U.S. President has also made similar remarks about Greenland and Canada.
Petro has been a stark critic of the rhetoric employed by President Trump, and is now expected to present a bill before the Colombian Congress to reinforce Panama’s and the Caribbean’s sovereignty. The leaders did not provide any details on what the potential bill could look like.
Additionally, Mulino explained, “Likewise, we have discussed the migration issue in detail—especially considering the problems it causes both our countries, namely reverse migration.”
Colombia and Panama also signed an agreement to cooperate on migration, specifically to facilitate the return of migrants to their countries.
Colombia and Panama are set to begin a clean energy interconnection project
In the meeting between the two heads of state, Petro and Mulino discussed a clean energy interconnection project between the two countries. On the subject, President Petro said that Colombia and Panama “May have the key to solving a significant amount of the global climate crisis.” The project is currently expected to have a line of 500 km with a direct current of 400 megawatts.
The Colombian President said, “It is not only about integrating Panama and Colombia through one or several electrical transmission lines, and addressing mutual challenges that we increasingly face—and will continue to face—in these times of the climate crisis.”
He added, “Given that roughly half of the emissions—more or less—are caused in North America, China, and Europe, South America has a clean energy generation potential that could, as its name suggests, cleanse the fossil energies of the United States and Canada.”