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Panama’s president rejects Trump

The Panama Canal(Bild: APA/AFP/Orlando Sierra)

Panama's president has ruled out any negotiations with the USA on the Panama Canal. "Panama's sovereignty (...) is clear, there is no discussion on this issue," said José Raúl Mulino. US President Donald Trump had previously made claims to the Panama Canal.

He Trump had repeatedly said that control of the important waterway should lie with the USA. Mulino had already firmly rejected these claims. He has now used the imminent first trip abroad by the new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Central America as an opportunity. According to US media, stops are planned in Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

The Panama Canal is 82 kilometers long and connects the Atlantic with the Pacific. It was built at the beginning of the 20th century by the US Army Corps of Engineers. However, on December 31, 1999, the USA handed over administration of the canal to Panama. This was negotiated by the recently deceased Democratic US President Jimmy Carter.

Panama's President José Raúl Mulino(Bild: APA/AFP/ARNULFO FRANCO)

Will there be a discussion about self-defense?
As reported, Donald Trump has also already made claims to Canada and Greenland. These are just "objects of geopolitics" for him, said Mexican economist Carlos Heredia Zubieta. These territorial claims are a "wake-up call" for the USA and for the whole of Europe, said Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen.

"Trump is sending a very clear signal to Europe that the time is over when Europe could believe that the Americans will pay the security bill (...). Now we will have a discussion about Europe's readiness for self-defense (...)". In a recent poll, 85 percent of Greenlanders surveyed were against a US takeover. Six percent were in favor and nine were undecided.