Panama confirms that it will not hold negotiations with the United States on the channel

On Thursday, President of Panama Jose Raul Molino ruled out any negotiations with the United States over the ownership of the Panama channel, in a position that comes before his reception of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
In his inauguration speech on January 20, US President Donald Trump claimed that China “runs” this waterway that the United States handed over in 1999 to the country in Central America.
“We have not delivered it to China, we have given it to Panama. We will restore it,” Trump said.

A complaint against Trump

“I cannot negotiate, or to open a negotiating operation on the channel, this matter is settled, the channel is king of Panama,” the president added, and Panama filed a complaint with the United Nations about the Trump threat.
He said: We are more than they want to speak with great respect and clarity with the US Secretary of State.
Despite the tension, Mulino stressed that Panama has a “distinctive relationship” with the United States, not China.
He said: “The relationship with the United States is strong, and it was always so, although there was a rise, decline, love and hatred, but we have always gathered a strong relationship, which allowed us to overcome extremely complex situations.”