Panama President, Jose Raul Mulino, on Wednesday, hit back at US President Donald Trump's threats of taking back a key trade route, the Panama Canal.
On Monday, Trump said during his inaugural address that China was 'operating' the Panama Canal via its growing presence around the waterway.
"We did not give it to China, we gave it to Panama. And we are taking it back," Trump said.
Reacting, Mulino said the Panama Canal wasn't a gift from the United States.
He spoke during a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday.
Mulino said, "We reject in its entirety everything that Mr Trump has said. First because it is false and second because the Panama Canal belongs to Panama and will continue to belong to Panama.
"The Panama Canal wasn't a concession or a gift from the United States."
The canal was inaugurated back in 1914 and was built by the United States.
However, it was handed to Panama on December 31, 1999, under treaties signed some two decades earlier.
Comments