“Take your hand off the canal.” A demonstration against Trump’s statements in Panama

About 100 people demonstrated on Tuesday in front of the US Embassy in Panama after President-elect Donald Trump threatened to regain control of the canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans if Panama did not reduce passage fees for American ships.
The demonstrators chanted, “Trump… keep your hand off the canal,” and burned a picture of the president-elect and the US ambassador to Panama, Marie Carmen Aponte.

Demonstration against Trump

They also chanted slogans such as “Go out with the American invaders” and “One land, one flag.” The demonstrators gathered at the invitation of the construction union and other leftist organizations.
Some carried signs reading, “Donald Trump, enemy of all Panama.” The demonstration took place without any incidents in front of the embassy, ​​guarded by about twenty security personnel.

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal, which was dug and opened by the United States in 1914, was transferred to the administration of Panama on December 31, 1999 under a treaty signed in 1977 by US President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian nationalist leader Omar Torrijos.
Construction union leader Saul Mendez said, “Panama is a sovereign country, and there is a canal here that is Panamanian, and Donald Trump and his imperialist delirium cannot claim a single centimeter of Panama’s land.” Demonstrator Jorge Guzman stated: “The (Panamanian) people have shown that they are capable of regaining their lands and we will not give them up again.”

Trump’s statements

The demonstration comes in response to statements made by Trump on Saturday in which he threatened to regain control of the Panama Canal if the canal administration did not reduce passage fees for American ships.
He added that if Panama is unable to guarantee the “safe, efficient and reliable operation” of this sea lane, “we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us in its entirety and without discussion.”

Tolls for passage through the Panama Canal

Transit fees through the Panama Canal are determined on the basis of ship capacity and type of cargo and not on the country of origin.
The US President-elect also considered that China runs the canal’s operations, which are in fact supervised by an independent Panamanian public authority.
Panamanian President Jose Raul Molino responded Tuesday in a statement he signed jointly with three former Panamanian presidents that affirmed that “the sovereignty of our country and our canal is non-negotiable.”