Trump Against Panama: “Ridiculous Fees, We Will Demand the Panama Canal be returned to us”

Just a few days ago, Donald Trump referred to Canada as the “51st American state,” and now come the president-elect’s over-the-top statements are about Panama.

“We can reclaim the canal,” the tycoon explained. The target is tariffs levied on US transit ships, defined as “ridiculous,” followed by a threat to regain control of the Atlantic-Pacific route.

“Our Navy and Commerce have been treated in a very unfair and injudicious way. The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the U.S. This complete ‘rip-off’ of our Country will immediately stop.” Conceived and built by the United States when the territory was part of Colombia, the canal then came under Panamanian control after the 1977 Torrijos-Carter agreements, which finally returned it to the Central American country in 1999. “When President Jimmy Carter foolishly gave it away for a dollar, it should have been run by Panama, not China or anyone else,” Trump said, hinting at Beijing’s growing influence over an important communications route and explaining that “we will never let it fall into the wrong hands!”

Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino’s response immediately followed: “The canal has no direct or indirect control by China, the European Union, the United States, or any other power. As a Panamanian, I reject any statement that distorts this reality.”