Beyond the Canal: The Real Risk of China’s Engagement in Panama
February 5th, 2025
Via The Diplomat, a look at how China’s combination of presence, influence, and compromising relationships within Panama’s elite gives it numerous opportunities to exploit. The solution is transparency and good governance. Recent statements by U.S. President Donald Trump and Special Envoy for Latin America Mauricio Claver Carone, as well as the trip by Secretary of State Marco Rubio to […]
Read more »US-China On Very Real Collision Course Over Panama Canal
January 27th, 2025
Via Asia Times, a look at the growing US-China tensions over the Panama Canal: United States President Donald Trump’s recent pledges to reclaim the Panama Canal have signaled rising US-China tensions in Latin America, America’s resource-rich backyard and traditional sphere of influence. After Trump said in his January 20 inauguration speech that it is time for the […]
Read more »What China Wants in Panama: More Trade, Projects and Influence
January 15th, 2025
Via the New York Times, a report on Beijing’s efforts to expand its reach in Panama which have hit several obstacles, in part because of American pressure: There was talk of a high-speed rail line that China would build in Panama. A new subway line in Panama City. A modern container port. China has been […]
Read more »Panama Wants to Preserve U.S. Alliance, but Trump Could Push It Closer to China
January 15th, 2025
Courtesy of the New York Times, a look at how President-elect Donald J. Trump’s threat to take back the Panama Canal may be posturing, but it could dampen the Panamanian government’s wish to broaden relations with the United States, analysts say. As Panama’s president laid a wreath to honor those who died protesting the American […]
Read more »Panama Plans Dry Alternative To Drought-Hit Canal
April 11th, 2024
Via Phys.org, a report on Panama’s plan to develop a dry alternative to its drought-hit canal: Panama on Wednesday unveiled plans for a “dry canal” to move cargo between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans due to low water levels in its century-old maritime channel. The Panama Canal usually handles about six percent of global maritime trade, […]
Read more »Dire Straits: Two Canals, Two Big Problems = One Global Shipping Mess
March 10th, 2024
Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal, a report on how drought in Panama and Houthi attacks in the Red Sea are delaying deliveries and pushing up costs: More than 50 ships queued to cross the Panama Canal on a recent day—from tankers hauling propane to cargo ships packed with food. A prolonged drought has led the canal’s […]
Read more »Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.