Panama’s president rejects Trump’s call to retake Panama Canal

Panama’s president said he is rejecting President Trump’s call for the United States to retake control of the Panama Canal. The Panamanian leader added he will not allow his country’s “total superiority” of the shipping channel to be lessened.

“We gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back,” Trump said during his inaugural address.

“The Canal is and will continue to belong to Panama, and its administration will continue to be under Panamanian control with respect to its permanent neutrality,” President Jose Raul Mulino said in a statement minutes later.

Former President Jimmy Carter gave Panama control of the canal in 1978 with the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. The United States didn’t officially give Panama’s government full control until 1999. President Trump specifically said China is operating the canal, a notion Mulino denied.

“There is no presence of any nation in the world interfering with our administration,” Mulino said. “The Canal was not a concession from anyone.”