Panama Canal: “no interference” from China and no changes to negotiate with Trump, says Mulino
Panamanian President José Raul Mulino has refuted any Chinese “interference” in the Panama Canal and rejected any discussion of changes with the United States, after US President-elect Donald Trump threatened to regain control of this passageway. between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
“There is no possibility for this president (Mulino, editor’s note) to discuss something that would seek to rethink the legal-political reality of the Panama Canal under Panamanian control. If the intention is to talk, there is no has nothing to say,” Mr. Mulino said during his weekly press conference in Panama.
“The canal belongs to the Panamanians, so there is no possibility of starting any type of conversation about a reality that has cost the country tears, sweat and blood,” he added.
The Panama Canal, built by the United States and inaugurated in 1914, came under Panamanian control on December 31, 1999, under treaties signed in 1977 by then-U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian nationalist leader , Omar Torrijos.
Donald Trump threatened on Saturday to regain control of the 80 km long interoceanic route if the price of tolls for American ships were not reduced.
“In the canal, tolls are not set at the whim of the president or the manager” of the canal, “there is an established process for setting the prices of canal tolls which has been respected from day one until today, it is a public and open process,” continued Mr. Mulino.
The American president-elect, who is due to take office on January 20, also accused China of being behind the operations of the canal, although operated by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), a public and autonomous Panamanian body.
“There is absolutely no Chinese interference or participation in anything relating to the Panama Canal…there are no Chinese soldiers in the canal, for God’s sake,” rejected Mr. Mulino.
“These may be geopolitical fears that may have some validity from their perspective, but as far as Panama is concerned, that is absolutely not true,” he added.
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