Trump threatens to retake control of Panama Canal
(VOVWORLD) - President-elect Donald Trump threatened to reassert US control over the Panama Canal on Sunday, accusing Panama of charging excessive rates to use the Central American passage and drawing a sharp rebuke from Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino.
 Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino. (Photo: Reuters) |
Speaking to a crowd of supporters in Arizona, Trump also said he would not let the canal fall into the "wrong hands.”
Trump's comments were an exceedingly rare example of a US leader saying he could push a sovereign country to hand over territory.
"It was given to Panama and the people of Panama, but it has provisions," Trump said of the canal, which was once owned by the United States but was handed over to Panama decades ago.
In a recorded message released on Sunday afternoon, Panama's President Mulino said that Panama's independence was non-negotiable. He also defended the passage rates Panama charged, saying they were not set "on a whim".
"Every square meter of the Panama Canal and the surrounding area belongs to Panama and will continue belonging (to Panama)," Mulino said.