The arbitration, to commence in London later this month, is to resolve a dispute involving a 25-year contract granted in 2021 for “the exclusive use of PPC port terminal operations in Panama and access to a range of PPC operational facilities and information.”

PPC’s press release portrayed improprer collusion between Maersk and the Panamanian government in the contract breach:

Maersk undermined the contract and aligned with the Republic of Panama in connection with its State campaign against PPC and scheme to replace it through a takeover that installed new port operators. It is already notorious that, on 23 February 2026, Panama expelled PPC from port operations through extreme executive measures, took over the port terminals, and entered into a pre-arranged concession contract for the Balboa terminal with a new operator that is affiliated with Maersk and has utilized PPC operational facilities and information.

In January, Panama’s Supreme Court ruled that the concession allowing the PPC to control and operate the Balboa and Cristóbal ports was unconstitutional. As a result of the ruling, Panama’s central government seized control of both ports, much to the dismay of China.

The PPC says its claim against Maersk is “distinct from” and “without prejudice to” other ongoing legal steps it is taking to hold Panama accountable for its “anti-contract and anti-investor conduct.”

“PPC will vigorously pursue its claims in the Maersk arbitration and its claims against Panama, as well as other rights and remedies,” the press release read.

Maersk said in a statement that it does not believe it is liable for the claims and will address them “in the appropriate forum,” without elaborating. There was no immediate comment from Panama’s government.

Initial proceedings against Panama commenced in February. In late March, the PPC expanded its claims and is now seeking more than $2 billion in damages.

The Chinese government is meanwhile said to be interfering in CK Hutchison’s plans to sell the majority of the dozen ports it owns, including both ports in Panama, to a consortium of buyers, including US investment firm BlackRock, in a $23 billion deal.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has “made blocking China’s influence over the Panama Canal one of its top priorities,” according to an NBC report.

From JURIST, April 9. Used with permission.

Photo: Editorpana via Wikimedia Commons

Hundreds of Danish veterans and supporters staged a silent march on Jan. 31 from the historic Kastellet fortress to the US Embassy in Copenhagen as part of a “No Words” mobilization to protest recent US rhetoric that organizers said demeans Denmark’s combat contributions alongside American forces.

Organizers also linked the march to the status of Greenland, upholding the right of self-determination for the Danish island territory. Recent demands by President Donald Trump for US annexation of Greenland, and comments seeming to question the courage of Danish soldiers, have stirred a sense of betrayal for many in Denmark, particularly those who fought alongside US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The march gathered at the Monumentet for Danmarks Faldne (Monument to Denmark’s Fallen) inside Kastellet, began with one minute of silence before departure, and concluded with five minutes of silence at the embassy. Organizers advised attendees to wear their service medals and stated that flags and banners were welcome.

In published remarks, organizers stated that 52 Danish flags bearing the names of Danes killed in US-led post-9-11 operations would be planted in front of the embassy following the march. Participants then faced the embassy in silence to honor the fallen.

In an English-language address prepared for delivery outside the embassy, organizers recalled how Denmark “immediately” joined the international response after the invocation of NATO Article 5 following the World Trade Center attacks. Over 27,000 Danish soldiers served in US- and NATO-led operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, with over 200 wounded and 52 killed. Denmark’s Armed Forces separately noted that 44 Danish soldiers died in Afghanistan while serving in NATO-led missions.

Greenland is governed under Denmark’s 2009 Act on Greenland Self-Government, which recognizes Greenland native inhabitants as a “people” under international law, with a right to self-determination, and sets out procedures for any future change in status. The march invoked core international law constraints, including the UN Charter prohibition on threats or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of states, and the centrality of self-determination to the international system.

In a Jan. 14 statement, UN experts urged the US to respect international law and Greenland’s right to self-determination, warning that rhetoric suggesting plans to “take” or control the territory undermines the UN Charter and international order. Protesters similarly accused the US of failing to respect alliances and the rule of law, emphasizing Denmark’s sacrifices in post-9-11 coalition missions and Greenlanders’ right to determine their political future.

Denmark and Greenland leaders have adamantly rejected US designs on the territory following the US appointment of a special envoy to Greenland in December. Last month, President Trump threatened tariffs on EU and Nordic countries that do not support his efforts to annex Greenland, but has since walked back his threat.

From JURIST, Feb. 2. Used with permission. Internal links added.

Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon.

Production by Chris Rywalt

We ask listeners to support us at one of our three tiers via Patreon: Become a Basic Supporter for just $1.25 per weekly podcast ($5 per month), or a Special Supporter for $2.50 per podcast ($10 per month), or a Major Rant Enabler for $6.25 per podcast ($25 per month). We now have 61 paid subscribers. If you appreciate our work, please become Number 62!

Image: TruthSocial

Greenland is also home to around 31.4 billion barrels of oil, which the territory gave up trying to extract in 2021, citing the global climate crisis. Potentially even more significant are large volumes of untapped critical minerals—necessary to power the technology needed for the transition away from fossil fuels. China currently controls most of the global market, and a White House document released this week explicitly framed critical minerals as vital to US national security.

From The New Humanitarian, Jan. 16. Slightly editied. Internal links added.

Photo: Pixabay

Greenland party leaders issued a joint statement Jan. 9 asserting that the autonomous territory rejects the US calls for acquisition. Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and four other party leaders stated: “We don’t want to be Americans, we don’t want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders.”

The world’s largest island, an autonomous territory under the Kingdom of Denmark, has been at the center of international controversy since President Donald Trump announced his ambition to acquire Greenland for the United States, citing a supposed design on the territory by Russia and China.

President Trump commented also Jan. 9 that the US is “going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not.” Trump’s interest in Greenland goes back to his first term, when the president acquiring the territory “essentially a large real estate deal.”

According to the Atlantic Council, the Arctic is now the scene of a large contest, in which Russia and China are increasing their footprint in the region. Greenland is an important asset, with its defense mechanisms, such as early warning systems and missile tracking radar feeding directly into US homeland defense.

In a poll carried out by Verian for the Danish news outlet Berlingske and the Greenlandic media house Sermitsiaq, 85% of Greenlanders do not want to be a part of the US, while 6% replied that they do.

Reacting to the dispute, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that the US is exempting itself from the international rules it had long promoted until just recently. Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul stated that the “fate of Greenland will be decided by Greenlanders and the Kingdom of Denmark,” adding that the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and inviolability of borders are UN principles which must be upheld.

From JURIST, Jan. 11. Used with permission.

Photo: Peter Prokosch

Did Delcy capitulate?
Meanwhile in Washington, White House officials were briefing members of Congress, who were not notified beforehand of the Jan. 3 military operation in which Maduro was captured.

And in Venezuela, Maduro’s groomed successor, newly inaugurated acting president Delcy Rodríguez, showed signs of capitulating to the pressure from Washington. After the Pentagon raid in which Maduro was taken (which also claimed the lives of at least 60 people, including civilians and several members of a Cuban security detail), Rodriguez defiantly stated in a televised address: “There is only one president in Venezuela, and his name is Nicolás Maduro Moros.”

But the next day, she struck a conciliatory tone, writing on social media: “We invite the US government to collaborate with us on an agenda of cooperation oriented towards shared development within the framework of international law to strengthen lasting community coexistence.”

Bellicose mid-flight press conference
Rodríguez is under explicit threat from Trump, who told reporters on a Dec. 4 flight from Florida to DC that if she doesn’t cooperate “she will face a situation probably worse than Maduro.” When asked about his boast that he will “run” Venezuela, Trump responded: “We’re dealing with the people. We’re dealing with the people that just got sworn in. And don’t ask me who’s in charge, because I will give you an answer and it’ll be very controversial.” When the reporter took this bait and asked him what that meant, he replied: “It means we’re in charge.”

Trump was similarly lacking subtlety in his claim to Venezuela’s oil: “The oil companies are ready to go. They’re going to go in. They’re going to rebuild the infrastructure. You know, we built it to start off with many years ago. They took it away. You can’t do that.”

Apparently refering to Venezuelan efforts to extend state control over the country’s oil resources following US investment in the sector over a century ago, he added: “It was the greatest theft in the history of America. Nobody has ever stolen our property like they have. They took our oil away from us. They took the infrastructure away and all that infrastructure is rotted and decayed, and the oil companies are going to go in and rebuild it.”

And indeed, shares of Chevron, the last US oil company that was authorized to operate in Venezuela, soared as much as 10% in pre-market trading after Trump’s comment. Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips shares also rose around 4%.

Queried about his supposed isolationism and antipathy to “nation-building,” Trump explicitly invoked the notion of Latin America as a US influence sphere, which was articulated in his recent National Security Strategy. He said of Venezuela: “This isn’t a country that’s on the other side of the world. This isn’t a country like we have to travel 24 hours in an airplane. This is Venezuela. It’s in our area, the Donroe Doctrine.”

Colombia, Mexico, Cuba, Greenland
He went on to directly threaten Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro: “He has cocaine mills, cocaine factories. He’s not going to be doing it very long.” So there will be another military operation?, the reporter asked. Trump: “It sounds good to me.”

Mexico was next. Invoking the flow of migrants across the US southern border, Trump reiterated his recent threat of military intervention: “Mexico has to get their act together, because they’re pouring through Mexico, and we’re going to have to do something.”

And even Greenland: “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security. And Denmark is not going to be able to do it, I can tell you. You know what Denmark did recently to boost up security in Greenland? They added one more dogsled. It’s true.”

Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen prompty responded: “This is enough. No more pressure. No more innuendo. No more fantasies about annexation.”

And Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in a statement: “It is necessary to reaffirm that in Mexico the people are in charge and that we are a free, independent and sovereign country. Cooperation, yes. Subordination and intervention, no.”

But Secretary of State Marco Rubio meanwhile warned that Cuba could be next, responding to a reporter’s question at a DC press conference: “Yeah, look, if I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I’d be concerned.” (PBS NewsHour, FreedomNews.tv, CNN, The Hill, Politico, NDTV, NBC News)

Photo: US Navy via Latin America Reports

But the freed Belarusian prisoners are protesting that they were expelled to Lithuania in the US-brokered deal and not given the choice to remain in their own country. Additionally, many have noted that they were almost due to be freed anyway. Veteran dissident and one-time Belarusian presidential candidate Mikola Statkevich, released from prison on Sept. 11 as part of the deal, has been returned to a penal colony at Hlybokaye after refusing to accept exile to Lithuania. (The Guardian, The Insider)

The military maneuvers follow an alarming rise in brinkmanship on NATO’s eastern flank.

Poland requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council and invoked Article 4 of the NATO treaty—mandating urgent talks among alliance members—after an incursion of at least 19 Russian drones into the country’s airspace on Sept. 10. The drones were intercepted by Polish and Dutch fighter jets, but not before a private home was struck and damaged in Lublin province. Russia denied targeting Poland, while Belarus, where some of the drones entered from, said they had “lost their course” because they were jammed. Poland is calling for NATO to impose a no-fly zone over its territory. (AP, CNN, Politico, TVP World)

“Russia’s war is escalating, not ending,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters in Brussels after the drone incursion. “What Putin wants to do is to test us. What happened in Poland is a game changer.” (AP)

Three days later, Romania scrambled two F-16 fighter jets after detecting a drone that had breached its airspace during a Russian attack on Ukraine. The jets followed the drone until it returned to Ukrainian airspace. (France24)

This, in turn, followed new outbursts of Russian threats to use nuclear weapons.

Photo of Russian T-14 Armata tank via National Security Journal

Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon.

Production by Chris Rywalt

We ask listeners to support us at one of our three tiers via Patreon: Become a Basic Supporter for just $1 per weekly podcast ($5 per month), or a Special Supporter for $2 per podcast ($10 per month), or a Major Rant Enabler for $5 per podcast ($25 per month). We now have 70 paid subscribers. If you appreciate our work, please become Number 71!

Photo via Twitter

Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon.

Production by Chris Rywalt

We ask listeners to support us at one of our three tiers via Patreon: Become a Basic Supporter for just $1 per weekly podcast ($5 per month), or a Special Supporter for $2 per podcast ($10 per month), or a Major Rant Enabler for $5 per podcast ($25 per month). We now have 68 paid subscribers. If you appreciate our work, please become Number 69!

Photo: rare earth mine at Mountain Pass, Calif. Credit: Tmy350 via Wikimedia Commons

The statement charges that Israel has repeatedly violated the Geneva Conventions and international law, concluding that there is a “clear risk” that Israel may use any arms imported to violate the convention. The statement points out the need for a potential arms embargo, and invokes the recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) rulings in January and February, which found that there is a “plausible risk of genocide” in Gaza.

Article 1 of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 sets out a negative and positive obligation on states to “neither encourage, nor aid or assist in violations of the Conventions by Parties to a conflict… [T]hey must do everything reasonably in their power to prevent and bring such violations to an end.”

The statement also references European Union treaties and law that may prohibit arms export to Israel, such as the Arms Trade Treaty. EU arms export control law states: “Member States are determined to prevent the export of military technology and equipment which might be used for internal repression or international aggression or contribute to regional instability.”

The death toll in Gaza since the start of Israel’s offensive currently stands at an estimated 29,000 people, with growing concern about a potential ground invasion of Rafah, where two-thirds of the Strip’s population is currently taking refuge.

From Jurist, Feb. 24. Used with permission.

See our last report on genocide accusations against Israel.

Photo: IDF via Flickr