Jose Raul Mulino rejects the prospect of talks with Donald Trump, who threatened that the US could take back control of the Panama Canal.
The Panamanian president has rejected threats The elected US President Donald Trump that the United States could regain control of the Panama Canal, saying, “There’s nothing to talk about.”
President Jose Raul Mulino on Thursday also rejected the possibility of reducing canal fees for U.S. ships and denied that China has any influence over the vital Atlantic-Pacific waterway.
“If the intention is to talk, then there is nothing to talk about,” Mulino said during a weekly news conference.
“The canal is Panamanian and belongs to the Panamanians. There is no way to open any conversation about this reality that has cost the country blood, sweat and tears.”
The president’s comments come days after Trump, who takes office next month, threatened to regain control of the Panama Canal because of what he said were “ridiculous” fees charged by the Panamanian authorities.
The United States exercised administrative control over the canal for decades before handing it over to Panama in 1999.
In a series of social media posts last week, Trump accused the Central American country, with which Washington has had diplomatic relations since 1903, of “ripping off” the United States over the Panama Canal.
“Our Navy and our commerce have been treated in a very unfair and careless manner,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday.
“The fees charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially given the extraordinary generosity that has been shown to Panama by the United States. This complete ‘rip-off’ of our country will stop immediately.”
Trump also claimed that Chinese soldiers were “lovingly but illegally operating the Panama Canal.”
That claim was rejected on Thursday by the Panamanian president, who said China had no role in managing the canal.
“For the love of God, there are no Chinese soldiers in the canal, the world can freely visit the canal,” Mulino told reporters.
China does not control or manage the canal, but a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings has long managed two ports at the canal’s Caribbean and Pacific entrances.
Meanwhile, Trump on Wednesday named Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera as his envoy to Panama.
Trump described Cabrera as “a fierce fighter for the principles of America First” and said in a social media post that he “will do a FANTASTIC job representing our nation’s interests in Panama!”
Earlier this week, dozens of protesters gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Panama City in anger over Trump’s comments about the Panama Canal.
The demonstrators shouted “Trump, animal, leave the canal alone!” and burned a picture of the new US president.
