Panama promotes itself “as the bridge of the world, heart of the universe” but lately the narrow Central American Isthmus and its namesake canal that joins the Atlantic to the Pacific have become the setting for a bitter clash between the world’s two preeminent economic superpowers.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has declared that the U.S. will take back the Panama Canal from China's influence, following a report of Panama's top auditor casting doubt on BlackRock's (NYSE:BLK) plan to buy two key ports in the waterway.

The U.S. Defense Secretary’s remarks at a ribbon cutting for a new American-financed dock triggered a fiery response f.