A diplomatic dispute erupted after Donald Trump threatened to reassert American control over the Panama Canal, Yahoo reported Sunday, with the former president accusing Panama of overcharging for use of the vital maritime passage.
Speaking to supporters at AmericaFest in Arizona, Trump questioned the current management of the waterway. "Has anyone ever heard of the Panama Canal?" Trump asked the crowd. "Because we're being ripped off at the Panama Canal like we're being ripped off everywhere else."
The strategic waterway, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, enables vessels to avoid lengthy voyages around South America's southern tip by providing a route through the Americas. As Yahoo noted, the canal facilitates passage for approximately 14,000 ships annually and represents about 2.5% of global seaborne trade.
Trump suggested that if certain conditions weren't met, the US would demand the return of the canal, which has been under Panamanian control since 1999. "It was given to Panama and the people of Panama, but it has provisions," Trump said. "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 full, quickly and without question."
The comments drew immediate pushback from Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino, who issued a strong defense of his country's sovereignty. "Every square metre of the Panama Canal and the surrounding area belongs to Panama and will continue belonging (to Panama)," Mulino stated on social media, also rejecting suggestions of Chinese influence over the canal's operations.
According to Yahoo, while China does not control the canal, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings manages two ports at the waterway's Caribbean and Pacific entrances.
Trump responded to Mulino's statement with a terse "We'll see about that!"
The controversy follows Trump's recent half-joking suggestions about incorporating Canada into the United States, as well as his past expressions of interest in purchasing Greenland during his first term in office.
