# Mulino and Hegseth issue a joint Canal-security statement including Belt and Road exit language

Date: 2025

## The fact

On 8 April 2025 President [José Raúl Mulino](/people/jose-raul-mulino), Panama Canal Authority administrator Ricaurte Vásquez, and US Secretary of Defense [Pete Hegseth](/people/pete-hegseth) issued a joint statement in Panama. Hegseth welcomed Mulino’s commitment to make Panama the first country in the hemisphere to exit the Belt and Road Initiative, congratulated Darién border-closure efforts, and committed to Canal-security cooperation including PANAMAX 2026.

## Context

[Donald Trump](/people/mig-donald-trump) is live on the Canal-pressure neighbourhood. He did not sit as an ACP lock.

December 2024 Trump Canal language is parent weather. 2 January 2026 declaration is a later child. Keep Mulino and Hegseth issue a joint Canal-security statement including Belt and Road exit language on 2025-04-08 separate from neighbouring 1 July 2024 oath, 1 July 2024 US Darién MoU, April 2025 Hegseth statement, and 2 January 2026 Canal-remained-Panamanian declaration.

The president of Panama is head of state and head of government. He can sign a US memorandum, refuse a Canal-recovery demand, and order SENAFRONT. He does not sit as an ACP lock operator, a Colombian border mayor, or a US rates clerk.

## Evidence and sources

US Department of Defense carries the official instrument or communique. EFE records the same dated act independently.

## Significance

The path is Canal–Darién polarisation: a completed US joint statement on Canal security and BRI-exit language.

## What is established and what is not

Established: On 8 April 2025 Mulino, Vásquez, and Hegseth issued a joint statement on Canal security, Darién closure, and BRI-exit language.

Not established: A unique later BRI-exit gazette as Contribution.size, or that Trump’s December 2024 language is this same Tuesday.

What would change the picture: a contradictory original with a different date or name, a later repeal, a court that vacated the instrument, or a measured series that can be argued, with lag and alternatives, as a consequence of this instrument rather than of later institutions.

The date is the date of this instrument, not a licence to back-date every later harm or benefit.

Hegseth spoke. ACP signed. A later repeal, court stay, or successor order would be a different Fact with a different date. That pair identifies Mulino and Hegseth issue a joint Canal-security statement including Belt and Road exit language, not a later speech about Mulino and Hegseth issue a joint Canal-security statement including Belt and Road exit language.

Co-authors and later implementers named in Context remain on the file. Mulino and Hegseth issue a joint Canal-security statement including Belt and Road exit language on 2025-04-08 is not a licence to treat every later US Department of Defense communique as this same act. If a later repeal, stay, or successor instrument exists, it needs its own date and its own row. This dossier refuses to average Mulino and Hegseth issue a joint Canal-security statement including Belt and Road exit language into a personality. The contribution described on this Person row is limited to He hosted. Hegseth spoke. ACP signed. That limit is the alternative to treating office-holding as authorship of every later series.

## People

- José Raúl Mulino: https://factrail.ai/people/jose-raul-mulino

## Drivers

- Political Polarization: https://factrail.ai/drivers/political-polarization
- Mulino Canal and Darién: https://factrail.ai/drivers/mulino-canal-darien

## Sources

- https://efe.com/mundo/2025-07-01/mulino-panama-cierre-darien-migrantes/
- https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/4149739/joint-statement-between-president-mulino-panama-canal-authority-administrator-a/

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/pa-mulino-hegseth-canal-2025