Panama rejects Trump's false claims on canal control
U.S. President Donald Trump falsely claimed that his administration has begun "regaining" control of the Panama Canal, Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino declared on Wednesday. Mulino reiterated his previous assurances that the canal "is and will remain Panamanian."
"Once again, President Trump is lying. The Panama Canal is not in the process of recovery," Mulino stated on platform X.
"I reject, on behalf of Panama and all Panamanians, this new affront to the truth and to our dignity as a nation. (...) The canal is and will remain Panamanian," the president declared.
Donald Trump talks about China
In Tuesday's speech before the joint houses of the U.S. Congress, Trump suggested again that China influences the management of the Panama Canal, and he announced efforts to regain control of this waterway. "To further enhance our national security, my administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we've already started doing it," he claimed.
He referred to information that the American company BlackRock has agreed to purchase a majority stake in a subsidiary of the Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchinson. CK Hutchinson owns the ports in Balboa and Cristobal, which are located on both sides of the Panama Canal.
The Hutchinson company has operated terminals on both sides of the Panama Canal since 1997, but growing tensions between the U.S. and China have prompted the American administration to push for taking control of strategic port assets.
The Panama Canal, which measures just over 50 miles in length, serves as a significant trade route connecting Asia with the eastern U.S. coast. Approximately 5 percent of the world's maritime trade passes through it. In the last fiscal year, there were 11,240 such voyages, which is a 20 percent decrease compared to the previous year.
