Trump Picks Kevin Marino Cabrera for Ambassador to Panama

President-elect Donald J.Trump on Wednesday named a Florida county commissioner to serve as his ambassador to Panama, a few days after Mr.

Trump called for the United States to assert control over the Panama Canal.Kevin Marino Cabrera, the District 6 commissioner of Miami-Dade County and the vice chairman of its International Trade Consortium, worked for the Trump campaign in 2020 and won Mr.Trump’s endorsement in January when he ran for vice chairman of the Florida Republican Party.

This year, he served as the state’s representative to the Republican National Committee platform committee.“Few understand Latin American politics as well as Kevin,” Mr.Trump wrote on social media.

“He will do a FANTASTIC job representing our Nation’s interests in Panama!”Mr.Trump has said the United States could demand the return of the Panama Canal if the Central American country did not reduce the fees it charges American ships.

In announcing his pick of Mr.Cabrera, he accused the country of “ripping us off on the Panama Canal, far beyond their wildest dreams.”The Panama Canal is an artificial waterway of about 50 miles that connects the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans through the country.

It is considered a vital link in global shipping, saving thousands of miles and weeks of travel around the tip of South America.The United States controlled the canal from when it was completed in 1914 until 1979, when President Jimmy Carter passed control to the Panama Canal Commission, a joint agency of the two countries.

Complete control of the canal passed to Panama in 1999.Mr.Trump has expressed concern that the canal could fall into the “wrong hands,” an apparent reference to China, the second-largest user of the canal.

A Hong Kong-based firm controls two ports near the waterway, but China has no control over the canal itself.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we veri...