On Sunday, Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino rejected recent threats from US President-elect Donald Trump regarding regaining control of the Panama Canal due to claims of “unfair” treatment toward American vessels.
“According to Mulino in a video shared on X, every square meter of the Panama Canal and its surrounding areas is owned by Panama and will remain with Panama.”
Mulino’s remarks to the public, while not naming Trump directly, follow a day after the president-elect voiced concerns about the canal on his Truth Social account.
“Our Navy and trade have been handled in an extremely unjust and unwise manner.” “The charges imposed by Panama are absurd,” he stated.
Trump also expressed concerns about China’s increasing influence over the canal, a troubling development for American interests since US companies rely on the channel to transport goods between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
“Trump stated that it was only Panama’s responsibility to handle, not China’s or anyone else’s.” “We would and will NEVER allow it to end up in the wrong hands!”
The Panama Canal, finished by the United States in 1914, was handed back to the Central American nation under a 1977 agreement signed by Democratic president Jimmy Carter.
In 1999, Panama assumed complete control.
Trump stated that if Panama is unable to guarantee “the secure, efficient, and reliable functioning” of the canal, “then we will insist that the Panama Canal be handed back to us, entirely, and without hesitation.”
Mulino dismissed Trump’s assertions in his video message, but he also expressed a desire to maintain “a good and respectful relationship” with the new administration.
“The canal is under no direct or indirect influence from China, the European Union, the United States, or any other authority,” Mulino stated. “As a Panamanian, I oppose any display that distorts this truth.”
Later on Sunday, Trump reacted to Mulino’s termination, posting on Truth Social: “We’ll see about that!”