Panama rejects Trump’s claims on Canal, asserts sovereignty
This combination of file pictures created on December 22, 2024 shows then former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (L) during an election night event at the West Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on November 6, 2024, and Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino during a press conference on migration at the Presidential Palace in Panama City on December 19, 2024. (AFP Photo)
Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino firmly rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks on Monday, asserting that the Panama Canal “is and will continue to be Panama’s.”
“On behalf of the Republic of Panama and its people, I must comprehensively reject the statements made by President Donald Trump regarding Panama and its Canal in his inaugural speech,” Mulino said. “The Canal is and will remain under Panamanian control with respect to its permanent neutrality.”
Mulino denied Trump’s claim that foreign entities, specifically China, have control over the canal’s administration. During his inaugural address, Trump alleged, “China is operating the Panama Canal, and we didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back.”
“There is no presence of any nation in the world that interferes with our administration,” Mulino said, emphasizing that the canal’s management is the result of decades of Panamanian effort, culminating in the 1999 Torrijos-Carter Treaty between Panamanian President Omar Torrijos and U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
“For 25 years, without interruption, we have managed and expanded the canal responsibly, serving global trade, including the United States,” Mulino added.
‘We are taking it back,’ says Trump
Trump has consistently expressed a desire to reclaim the Panama Canal, citing what he calls unfair treatment of U.S. ships, particularly with regard to tolls.
“The U.S. has been treated very badly by this foolish gift that should have never been made,” Trump said. “The spirit of our treaty has been totally violated. American ships are being severely overcharged and not treated fairly, and that includes the U.S. Navy.”
“Above all, China is operating the Panama Canal, and we didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama. And we’re taking it back,” Trump said after being sworn in inside the U.S. Capitol on Monday.
The Panamanian government, while open to dialogue to resolve disputes, made it clear that the sovereignty and ownership of the canal are non-negotiable.
“Dialogue is always the way to clarify disputes, but Panama’s sovereignty over the canal is not up for negotiation,” Mulino stressed.
