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Panama's President grants Trump clear removal

Canal the “soul” of the country
Panama's President grants Trump clear removal

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The Panama Canal was built by the United States more than a hundred years ago. US President Trump wants to break the administration of the important waterway again. But the channel is not up for discussion, says Panama's President Mulino.

Panama's President José Raúl Mulino has excluded any negotiations with the United States about the Panama Canal. “Panama's sovereignty over the channel is clear that there is no discussion about this topic. The soul of a country is not up for discussion,” said Mulino.

He is aimed at the upcoming first trip abroad by the new US Foreign Minister Marco Rubio in Central America. Last week, a spokeswoman confirmed the trip, but without naming the individual countries. According to US media, stops in Panama, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic are planned from the end of this week.

In his speech, US President Donald Trump had made demands on the Panama Canal on the occasion of his swearing in. Most recently, he had bluntly said several times that control over the important waterway should be in the USA. In a television interview, Trump said: “We will have to get him back.” Mulino had already decidedly rejected Trump's demands.

Trump has stated several times since his election victory last November that the fees for US ships for passing through the channel, which are important for world trade, have been too high. Rubio had not spoken of military violence in the Senate hearing as Foreign Minister in connection with the Panama Canal, but it probably said that the United States would have to react to the serious concerns about the Chinese influence on the important waterway.

Carter was handing over

The 82 -kilometer channel connects the Atlantic with the Pacific in Central America. It was built by the engineering corps of the US army in the early 20th century and opened in 1914. In 1977, an agreement was signed to hand over the canal to the Central American country.

On December 31, 1999, the United States finally handed over the channel administration to Panama. The recently deceased Democratic US President Jimmy Carter had negotiated the transaction.

Panama had complained about Trump's threats to the United Nations. Head of state José Raúl Mulino confirmed during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the channel belongs to Panama “and will continue to belong”.

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