Jose Raul Mulino rejects the prospect of talks with Donald Trump, who has threatened the US to regain control of the Panama Canal.
The President of Panama has rejected the threats and US President-elect Donald Trump that the United States could regain control of the Panama Canal, saying “nothing to say.”
President Jose Raul Mulino on Thursday also ruled out the possibility of reducing US rail tariffs and denied China's influence on the vital waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
“If there is an intention to talk, then there is nothing to talk about,” Mulino said at a weekly press conference.
“The canal belongs to Panama and it belongs to the people of Panama. There is no opportunity to open any kind of dialogue about this, which has cost the country blood, sweat and tears.”
The president's comments come days after Trump, who will take office next month, threatened to take power again of the Panama Canal over what he said were “ridiculous” charges by the Panamanian authorities.
The US controlled the canal for years before handing it over to Panama in 1999.
In a series of social media posts last week, Trump accused the Central American country, with which Washington has had relations since 1903, of “pulling” the US out of the Panama Canal.
“Our Navy and commerce have been treated unfairly and unfairly,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Saturday.
“The tariffs imposed by Panama are ridiculous, especially in light of the incredible generosity the United States has given to Panama. This 'destruction' of our country will end immediately.
Trump also said that the Chinese military was “lovingly, but illegally, occupying the Panama Canal”.
This was rejected on Thursday by the President of Panama, who said that China has no role in managing the canal.
“There are no Chinese soldiers in the tunnel for the love of God, the world is free to visit the tunnel,” Mulino told reporters.
China does not own or operate the canal, but Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings has been managing two ports along the canal's Caribbean and Pacific coasts.
Meanwhile, Trump on Wednesday appointed Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera as his envoy to Panama.
Describing Cabrera as “a great fighter for the America First principle”, Mr Trump said in a social media post that “he has done a wonderful job representing our country's interests in Panama!”
Earlier this week, dozens of protesters gathered outside the US embassy in Panama City in anger over Trump's comments on the Panama Canal.
The protesters chanted “Trump, animal, leave the tunnel!” and burn the portrait of the incoming president of the US.