Top political leaders in Panama have held a ceremony to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the country's return Panama Canal after decades of ruling the United States.
But the celebration took place in a difficult way, as the US President-elect Donald Trump he continued to sing that his country restore control above the most important river, which connects the Pacific Ocean with the Caribbean Sea.
Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino, a right-leaning leader like Trump, was among those who spoke at Tuesday's main event in the capital, Panama City.
He assured viewers that the Panama Canal would remain in his country's hands, and removed Trump. comments without mentioning the name of the US leader.
“There are no hands involved in the canal except for Panama,” Mulino said. Rest assured that it will be in our hands forever.
But Trump is pushing for US control over the canal as part of his expansionary rhetoric.
Earlier this month, Trump joked that Canada should become the US's 51st country, and reiterated his desire to buy Greenland, an idea he floated during his first term in office.
But as Trump prepares for a second term on January 20, he has threatened to take the Panama Canal away from Panamanian rule.
On December 21, in his post on the Internet Truth Social, Mr. Trump accused the Panamanian authorities of demanding “higher prices” to pass through the canal.
The canal allows cargo ships to pass from the Pacific to the Atlantic without going around South America, a dangerous route that runs thousands of miles.
But the tunnel has seen an increase in traffic over the past few decades. The country has also suffered from a severe drought that has hampered navigation in the locks: chambers of water that lift boats up and down when the surrounding area is poor.
In his letter, Mr. Trump indicated that Panama was in violation of the 1977 agreement that established the conditions for the canal to move from the US to Panamanian rights.
“The total 'destruction' of our Country will end immediately,” Trump wrote in the newspaper first of two tall poles. In secondlyhe continued to warn.
“If the principles, moral and legal, of this great concession are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, without reservation,” he wrote.
“To the Panamanian Officials, please be directed accordingly.”
History of governance
The construction of the canal in Panama has long been the desire of the western colonialists.
In the late 1800s, for example, the US made plans to build a canal in Panama – then part of Colombia – but the South American country rejected the deal.
After Panama declared independence, the US quickly supported secession. The United States was the first country to recognize Panama as its own country.
In return for US aid, Panama gave the North American country the right to build the canal and manage the surrounding area. That area came to be known as the Panama Canal Zone.
But the opposition saw the deal as a violation of Panamanian rights. In the end, in 1977, the then president of the United States, Jimmy Carter, signed two agreements to restore the canal and the surrounding areas.
That change went into effect on December 31, 1999, exactly 25 years ago.
Carter died Sunday, just before Memorial Day. Mulino paid tax for the late US president on Tuesday with a moment of silence.
In his statement, Mulino described feeling “a mixture of joy at 25 years” and “sadness” at Carter's death.
Remembering the 'martyrs'
Tuesday's celebrations also acknowledged the protesters who died calling for the canal to be returned to Panamanians.
Among the dignitaries were more than 20 people who were killed in a student demonstration on January 9, 1964.
The day, known in Panama as Martyrs' Day, saw students attempt to raise the Panamanian flag alongside the US at a high school in the canal district. Violence broke out, resulting in the deaths of protesters and four US soldiers.
In the past few days, Trump said the accused Panama has violated the canal's re-entry rules, allowing the Chinese military to use the channel.
But Panamanian officials have denied that China has control over the canal.
Jorge Luis Quijano, who served as the canal's administrator from 2014 to 2019, was quoted in The Associated Press as saying that Trump had no legitimate reasons for his comments on the canal.
“There is no provision of any kind in the neutrality agreement that allows for the return of canals,” Quijano said.