Panama Says There Will Be No Negotiations With US Over Canal

Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino on Thursday ruled out negotiations with the United States over ownership of the Panama Canal as he prepares to host Donald Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Trump, in his inaugural address on January 20, alleged that China was effectively "operating" the waterway which the United States handed to the Central American nation in 1999.

"We didn't give it to China, we gave it to Panama. And we're taking it back," Trump said.

But Mulino said opening negotiations on ownership of the canal "is impossible."

"I cannot negotiate, much less open a process of negotiations on the canal. That (the matter) is sealed. The canal is Panama's," he said at his weekly press conference.

Panama, long a friend of the United States, has complained to the United Nations over Trump's threat.

Nevertheless, Mulino said there are common issues such as migration and the fight against organized crime and drug trafficking that he would be happy to discuss with Rubio when he visits in the coming days.

"We are more than willing to talk with respect and very clearly... with the secretary of state," said the president, without giving a date for the meeting.

Rubio's first trip abroad as Trump's top envoy will take him to Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.

The visit comes amid high tension between Latin America and Washington over Trump's plans for mass deportations of undocumented migrants, most of whom come from the region.

Despite the strain, Mulino stressed that Panama had a "privileged relationship" with the United States, "not China."

"The relationship with the United States is strong, it has always been so, there have been ups and downs, love and hate, but there has always been a strong relationship that... has allowed us to overcome very, very complicated situations," he said.

Constructed by the United States and opened in 1914, the canal was administered by America until 1977, when treaties were signed under then-US president Jimmy Carter for its handover to Panama.

Since 1999, the canal has been managed by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) -- an autonomous entity whose board of directors is appointed by the legislature and president of Panama.

In the eye of the storm is the private Panama Ports Company -- a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings -- which was granted a concession to operate ports on either extreme of the 82-kilometer (51-mile) waterway.

The PPC does not make any decision on shipping routes.

The ports "are not under the control of governments or military forces of any nation," insisted Mulino, who also rejected any suggestion of interference in the canal's administration.

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