Trump threatens Panama Canal takeover with “excessive” fees

On By Littum

President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to take control of the Panama Canal unless the Panamanian authorities stop charging exorbitant fees for the use of the choke point.

“Has anyone ever heard of the Panama Canal?” Trump said at a conservative event in Arizona, as quoted by Reuters. “Because we’re getting ripped off at the Panama Canal, just like we’re getting ripped off everywhere else.”

“It was given to Panama and the people of Panama, but it has provisions,” Trump went on to say about the Panama Canal. “If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in its entirety, quickly and without question,” Trump said.

The remarks prompted an immediate response from Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino, who said that Panama’s sovereignty was non-negotiable and Panama had sole authority over the infrastructure.

“Every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent territories belongs to Panama and will continue to belong to Panama,” Mulino said, adding that “The Canal has no direct or indirect control from China, nor the European Union or the United States or the United States. any other power. As Panamanians reject I any manifestation that misrepresents this reality.”

The latter remarks were made in response to a suggestion by Trump that the management of the Panama Canal was influenced by Chinese interests. According to Reuters, a subsidiary of a Hong-Kong-based company manages two ports along the Panama Canal.

The canal was built by the United States in the early 20th century. Panama granted the United States the right to build and operate the canal in exchange for annual payments. Ownership of the infrastructure was passed to the government of Panama in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter. The agreement gave the local government control of the Panama Canal under an obligation to maintain its neutrality.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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