Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino has dismissed a threat from US President-elect Donald Trump to retake control of the Panama Canal if transit fees are not reduced, particularly for US vessels.

“As president, I want to express precisely that every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent zone belongs to Panama and will remain so. The sovereignty and independence of our country are not negotiable,” Mulino stated in a video published on his X account.

Trump, in comments made on Saturday, had criticized the high fees charged to American ships and demanded Panama reduce these fees or face the prospect of the canal being returned to U.S. control. He argued that the canal was "not given for Panama to charge the United States, its navy or corporations doing business within our country exorbitant prices and rates of passage."

Mulino defended the fee structure, explaining that rates are established "publicly and in an open hearing, considering market conditions, international competition, operating costs and the maintenance and modernization needs of the interoceanic route." He also clarified that the canal management has no foreign control, directly countering Trump's claims about Chinese involvement by stating, "The canal is not under direct or indirect control, neither by China nor by the European community, by the United States or by any other power."

The Panamanian president expressed his desire for a "respectful relationship" with the incoming U.S. administration but emphasized that security challenges like illegal migration, drug trafficking, terrorism, and organized crime should take precedence in the bilateral agenda.

Support for Panama came from Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who, via X, declared his stance in defense of Panama's sovereignty, saying, "If the new US government wants to talk business, we will talk business, face to face, and for the benefit of our people, but dignity will never be negotiated."

The Panama Canal, originally constructed by the U.S. and completed in 1914, was handed over to Panama in 1999 under an agreement signed in 1977 by then-U.S. President Jimmy Carter, ending nearly a century of U.S. control.

This recent exchange has reignited discussions about international relations, national sovereignty, and the strategic importance of the Panama Canal in global trade. (ILKHA)