Panamas president rules out talks with Trump over canal threat [Video]

Panamanian President Jose Raul Molino speaking at a press conference on Dec 26. He has denied that China has any influence over the Panama Canal, a vital waterway.PHOTO: REUTERS

– Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino on Dec 26 ruled out negotiations with US President-elect Donald Trump over control of the Panama Canal, denying that China was interfering in its operation.

Mr Mulino also rejected the possibility of reducing tolls for US vessels in response to Trump’s threat to demand control of the vital waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans be returned to Washington.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Mr Mulino told a press conference.

“The canal is Panamanian and belongs to Panamanians.

“There’s no possibility of opening any kind of conversation around this reality, which has cost the country blood, sweat and tears,” he said.

The canal, inaugurated in 1914, was built by the United States but handed to Panama on Dec 31, 1999, under treaties signed some …